Aerith The Reincarnation of Aeris
by Lady Sirea
Summary: Cloud has been haunted by the past, particularly with the death of Aeris. One night, he makes a trip to the Forgotten City in his motorcycle and makes an encounter with someone that will change his life. Contains many crossovers. REVISED!
1. Cloud's Mysterious Encounter

**This is my VERY first fanfic and I'm REALLY excited to let others read this.**

**To let you know, I don't own Final Fantasy VII. The ONLY characters I own in this chapter is Aerith and the werewolf.**

**Yes, I have done some revising and I hope you enjoy this fanfic alot more. ;D**

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AERITH...THE REINCARNATION OF AERIS?

PART I

CLOUD'S MYSTERIOUS ENCOUNTER

It was a cold, full moon night, and a blonde, spikey-haired guy was leaving a town. He had blue eyes, wearing his outfit that he was wearing in Advent Children. He was carrying a BIG sword on his back. His name is Cloud Strife, and he was one of the few who saved the planet from being destroyed. However, he is still haunted by the past. During the time he tried to save the planet, an even occurred that devastated him greatly. This event was when the one he really cared for was killed in front of his eyes by his archenemy, a man by the name of Sephiroth. Her name was Aeris Gainsborough. Cloud met her after a mission from AVALANCHE while she was selling flowers, unknowing that she would play a big part in his life. He didn't see the girl again until he crashed into the church in a place called Midgar and he becomes her bodyguard with the cost of one date. She was eventually captured by the ShinRa, but was rescued by Cloud and company then joins them on their pursuit to stop Sephiroth.

After a failed attempt to Sephiroth from obtaining the Black Materia, Aeris ventured into the Forgotten City. Cloud and company went after her until they found her praying at an alter. But as Aeris looks up at Cloud with a smile on her face, Sephiroth suddenly jumps down and kills Aeris. 3 years have passed since the incident, Cloud still blames himself for not being able to save her as of now. This was a wound that would not heal. Everytime he thinks about what happened, he would wish that she would have a second chance at life.

Cloud was travelling around in the Fenrir, his motorcycle. He makes his way to the Forgotten City, but little did he know, another event is about to take place that will change his life forever. It was in the middle of the night, and Cloud hears something growling nearby and coming his way. "Okay, there's something here," He says as he draws his Buster sword then all of a sudden, a black werewolf comes out in front of him. It was about 6 feet tall, and its teeth covered with blood. Cloud quickly skids his motorcycle to a stop as he yells out, "Holy Cheese!" He jumps off of Fenrir and gets into a fighting stance. "A werewolf? What's a werewolf doing in a place like this?" He thought out loud. The werewolf glares at Cloud, wanting to attack, but decides to flee. Cloud watches in confusion and scratches the back of his head. "That was odd...I think I'll go crash for the night." He shrugs his shoulders, and goes into an empty house. Just when Cloud was about to crash for the night, he hears sounds of chains rattling and someone crying.

"Huh...?" He thought out loud as he went out of the house and follows the sounds. It got louder and louder each time got closer to where the sound was coming from, but the sounds seems to fade slightly as if the source was moving. Cloud follows the sounds to an odd shaped building near a lake. He looks around then looks at the lake. "This place sure brings back memories." He says as he walked closer to the lake and looks at his reflection. "Aeris...I'm so sorry..." He whispers softly as a memory of him carrying Aeris's lifeless body to the lake and releasing it into the water plays in his mind. After a while, he goes inside the building, and went downstairs to a pretty area. "This was where it happened..." He spoke then he hears somebody crying. He looks around the area, then he spots someone at the alter. "What the...?" He thought out loud to himself.

He makes his way to the alter and by his surprise, he finds a little girl, all chained up with her left arm covered with blood. She appears to be around the age of 5 with long light brown hair, her bangs covering her right eye and she wore a dress, but seems to be slightly ripped up as if something attacked her. Cloud was surprised from what he saw, but slowly walks toward her. "What are you doing in a place like this?" He asks softly. The girl looks at Cloud with a frightened look with tears streaming down her cheeks. Her left eye has a greenish color to it. She starts to back away from Cloud when he started to walk toward her. Cloud frowns at the sight then speaks, "It's okay...I won't hurt you." The girl continues to back away from Cloud, trembling in fear. Cloud watches the girl as he thinks to himself, She's still backing away from me. I don't blame her for being scared. He then notices the girl's wounded arm. "Your arm..." He spoke then suddenly remembers the werewolf from earlier, having blood on its teeth. "You got bit, didn't you?" He asks the girl, but receives no response from her. He slowly walks over to the girl and removes the chains from her before wrapping a bandage on her wounded arm. She looks at him with tears still flowing down her cheeks.

"So where are your parents?" He asks.

The girl still looks at Cloud, but then lowers her gaze to the ground when he asked her about her parents. She doesn't seem to remember who her parents are, but she does know that she's lost and alone. The fear she showed in her eyes revealed that she's been lost for a long time and has never seen another human that's kind for 2 years. Cloud frowns when he watched the girl then asks, "You can't speak, can you? I don't blame you for being scared." The girl shakes her head in response to Cloud's question. He then holds his hand out toward her and speaks softly to her, "You can come with me. I'll make sure nothing will harm you...I promise." The girl looks at Cloud's hand as she slowly walks over to him and holds his hand tightly then hugs him. Cloud smiles at her, happy that he was able to gain the girl's trust. "Alright then...let's get outta here."

The girl gives a nod and a gentle smile shows on her face. Cloud leads the girl out of the area and headed for the motorcycle once they got out. Cloud figured that it would be dangerous to crash in the Forgotten City for the night since that werewolf might still be lingering around, and not wanting to put the girl's life in danger. Little did they know, a bald guy, wearing a suit and sunglasses peeks from behind a tree and watches Cloud and the girl as they were leaving. The man looks at his partner, a red-haired guy who is wearing the same kind of suit and sunglasses on head. The bald guy shakes the red-haired guy, who is sleeping near the tree. "Reno, wake up."

The red-haired guy turns to another direction, still sleeping as he mutters, "5 more minutes, mom..."

The bald guy falls to the ground in anime style then he quickly gets up on his feet before yelling in Reno's ear. "RENO! WAKE UP!"

Reno finally wakes up and rubs his ear, mumbling. "Awww man...Rude! Why do you have to be so rude?"

Rude responds, "You know we were supposed to follow Cloud."

"Have fun..." Reno grumbles as he goes back to sleep, but this time, Rude grabs a megaphone and yells real loud like he's trying to wake up Marine recruits in boot camp at 4:30 in the morning.

"REEEEEEENNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The poor unfortunate sleeping turk wakes up from the yelling, grumbling as he thinks to himself, _The next time he does that, I'm gonna put earplugs on._ He stands up and speaks, "Fine..." He stretches then slightly glares at his bald partner. "I'll stay awake. No wonder your mother named you Rude cuz you are so rude."

Rude, seeming to be ignoring Reno's comments, responds, "Come on! Cloud's leaving!"

Reno gives a slight yawn before speaking, "Don't you realize it's passed midnight? I wanna catch some Z's" Rude gives a sigh then all of a sudden he spots a werewolf behind Reno. It was the same werewolf that Cloud encountered earlier. It growls deeply as Rude has a "freaked out" look on his face then he speaks to Reno. "And get eaten by a werewolf."

"Wha...?" Reno asks as he noticed the look on Rude's face. He slowly looks behind him and sees the werewolf before he too makes a very freaked out look. "Leapin' Lasagna!" Reno yelled out as he quickly examines the creature. "That thing's big...and ugly...like Rude."

"I heard that, Reno. I suggest we run before we get eaten."

"LET'S GET OUTTA HERE!" Reno yells out as he still has that freaked out look on his face. "That thing's looking at me like it wants to have me." He backs up slowly, raising his hands defensively as he speaks to the werewolf, "DON'T EAT ME, MR. MONSTER! EAT RUDE! HE TASTES LIKE CHICKEN!" Reno and Rude quickly ran like the wind away from the werewolf. Meanwhile, Cloud rode Fenrir to Midgar along with the little girl he found. He parks the motorcycle near a bar that says "7th Heaven" and gets off the motorcycle then helps the little girl get off. The girl stays close to Cloud once her feet touched the ground and holds his hand. Cloud gives a small smile as he takes the girl inside the bar and looks around, as if looking for someone. "Tifa! You there?" He called out. At that moment, a woman with long black hair, wearing a white tank top with a black jacket and black shorts, walks to the bar counter from the kitchen and looks at Cloud with her brown eyes. "Yeah...I'm here." She answered then she notices the little girl hiding behind Cloud, holding his hand. She asks, "Who's that?"

Cloud responds, "I just found her all chained up and her arm was covered with blood." Tifa gives a surprised look at Cloud. "Poor child..." She said then looks at the little girl in the eyes, noticing a strange glow in the girl's eyes. "Her eyes...she's been exposed to mako."

"Alot to be exact and also a werewolf bit her."

"That makes it worse...she'll become a werewolf herself."

"I think I've found the werewolf that bit her before I found her. It was a big one with black fur and red eyes."

Tifa gives a sigh and shakes her head as she speaks, "I never though there might be werewolves around. I think you better get some rest."

Cloud gives a nod then picks up the little girl, who just yawns, feeling sleepy. He takes her to his room and lays her in his bed, then he thinks to himself as he walked out of the room, _She reminds me of Aeris...Who is she?_ Outside the room, he sees Tifa cleaning up the tables. She stops and looks up at Cloud before asking, "Does she have a name?" Cloud walks over to an empty couch and lays down on it then answers, "She didn't tell me."

"Where are her parents?"

"I don't know, she has not said a word to me. I guess she was too scared to speak."

Tifa gives a sigh, "I guess we won't be finding them anytime soon. Not at this time of night."

"Seems that way...Looks like we're gonna have to adopt her at least until we find her family. Afterall, this bar is also an orphanage."

Tifa giggles slightly, "Looks that way. So what are you gonna call her?"

"I think I'll call her...Aerith..."

"Aerith Strife..." She spoke as she looks at Cloud with a smile on her face. "Sounds good to me. You sound like you can be a good father."

Cloud waves his hand dismissively as he closes his eyes, "Yeah, right. I'm going to sleep on the couch. G'night." He falls fast asleep on the couch. Tifa smiles and covers him with a blanket as she thinks to herself, I know you've been devastated when Sephiroth killed Aeris in front of your eyes. You've been like that ever since...now you bring a little girl home. For some reason, she looks like Aeris. Who is she? She strokes Cloud's hair gently then walks upstairs to her room.

Deep in the forest, Reno and Rude were still running like crazy, even though there was no sign of the werewolf. They soon stopped near a log, trying to catch their breaths. Rude looks behind them and looks at Reno, panting. "I hope we lost him." Reno nods in agreement, panting as well, then responds, "Yeah...We must head back to HQ immediately."

"We still have a job to do."

Reno sighs a bit, "I'm sleepy and Cloud's already long gone. Besides, I don't wanna encounter your cousin."

Rude raises an eyebrow, "My cousin?"

"Yeah! That big ugly werewolf, you dipstick!"

"Who you callin' a dipstick, Redhead?"

"RED-HEAD? Now you've gone too far, Baldy!"

"That's it! I'm gone!" Rude walks off while Reno stands there, yelling at him. "FINE, RUDE! You're sooo rude...Meanie!" Reno calms himself down and follows after Rude, hoping that he'll finally get some sleep once they get back to ShinRa HQ.


	2. ShinRa's Plan and Sephiroth?

**I can see that people enjoyed the revised version of chapter 1. I'm glad that my fanfic's being enjoyed. Now let's give chapter 2 a whirl.**

**NOTE: I do not own Final Fantasy VII. In this chapter, I own Aerith Strife and the mysterious silver-haired guy.**

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AERITH...THE REINCARNATION OF AERIS?

PART II

SHINRA'S PLAN AND...SEPHIROTH?

10 years have passed since Cloud have found the little girl at the Forgotten City...Now 15 years old, the girl has spent her days living with Cloud and Tifa in the 7th Heaven, under the name "Aerith Strife". She has helped Cloud take care of the chocobos and with the delivery work. For the past 13 years, Cloud was no longer a mercenary, but now working with Tifa for a delivery service. Aerith, being so attached to her adopted father, sometimes tag along with him. She loves to help him out in any way possible, however she was told never to go outdoors after sunset due to not risking Aerith's lycan curse to take effect. Every now and then, Aerith would come home with some flowers to decorate the 7th Heaven whenever she stayed at the bar to help Tifa around. Since the bar was also an orphanage, she tried to help take care of some the orphans that stayed at the bar. She also made friends with Barret's daughter, Marlene, and the orphan boy, Denzel. For some strange reason, Cloud keeps thinking about Aeris every time he looks at Aerith. To him, almost everything about her resembles that of Aeris, but he and Tifa decided to take Aerith in since she didn't have a home.

For years, Cloud has been searching for the girl's parents, but no luck at all. He won't give up until he at least found some info on who could her parents be, and as of now, he continues to search every chance he gets. Although he knew Aerith's lycan curse would pose a problem in the future, he tries his hardest with Tifa's help to help Aerith live her life like any average girl. And for some other strange reason, we're about to see what the Turks are up to at ShinRa HQ. A phone rings at the President's desk and Reno, who's sitting on the President's chair, answers it. Though he has a tired look on his face, he keeps an enthusiastic tone in his voice as he answers the phone, "Welcome to the ShinRa Building! Home of the Turks! Can I take your order?"

_"RENO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"_ A man's voice yelled out through the phone. The voice was the voice of President Rufus Shinra himself.

"Awww, Rufus...Whycha haveta do that, you party pooper?"

"This is coming out of your paycheck, Reno. You and Rude were supposed to follow Cloud."

"For 10 stinkin' years, me and Rude had followed Cloud. I need a vacation and I almost got the werewolf disease."

_"Werewolf? What werewolf?"_

Reno smacks his forehead as Rude walks into the office when Rufus asked about the werewolf. "I thought I already told you about it on the report 10 years ago," Reno responds with an irritated tone in his voice then gives a sigh. He couldn't believe that the President had forgotten about the report regarding Cloud and the lycan. "We encountered one while we were following Cloud, and it was a BIGGIN' and it looked like Rude." Rude suddenly gives Reno an evil look then speaks, "I heard that, Reno."

Rufus has the sound of annoyance in his voice, "Excuse me for not remembering reports. You can't expect me to remember every single report I receive from you guys, and maybe this werewolf you encountered might be just one of Hojo's experiments."

Reno's mouth slightly dropped then yells out, "WHHAATT? I ALMOST BECAME A RENO-BURGER AND YOU SAY 'IT'S JUST ONE OF HOJO'S EXPERIMENTS'!?"

_"Uhh yeah...So what are your reports so far?"_

"Like I wanna talk to you after all that mean stuff," Reno answers, now irritated by Rufus, and gives the phone to Rude then leaves the office after Rude takes the phone. Rude answers, "Hello?"

_"What had happened so far with Cloud, Rude?"_

"Well, 10 years ago, Cloud was at the forgotten city of the Ancients and when he was leaving the city, he had a little girl with him."

_"WHAT? What's a little girl doing in a place like that?"_

Reno comes back into the office with a can of Coca-Cola in his hand while Rude speaks with Rufus on the phone. "I don't know, but for some reason, she reminds of that Ancient, Aeris."

_"Come on, we all know that Aeris is dead. Sephiroth stabbed her in the back."_

All of a sudden, a weird hippy-looking guy with a white coat comes waltzing into the office with his hippy self and sets the phone on the speakers so everyone in the office could hear Rufus. Reno watches as he takes a sip of his cool refreshing Coca-Cola. The weird guy begins to speak to Rufus, "I might have the answer to that. This girl might be Aeris's reincarnation." At hearing this, Reno suddenly spits out his drink by surprise before facing the man with a "time out" handsign held up. "TIME OUT, HOJO! Aeris has a reincarnation? When did this happen?"

Hojo pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose then rubs his chin, "Let's see..." Reno and Rude looks at the scientist with wonder as Rufus waits for an explanation, all waiting for Hojo's response. The lens on Hojo's glasses glare from the light in the office as he grins, "I don't really know!" Reno and Rude fall to the ground anime style while a sigh is heard from the speakers. Reno gets up on his feet then looks at Hojo with his eye twitching, "How could you not know!? You're a scientist for crying out loud!"

"Well, I don't know everything. You're just gonna have to bring the girl here to see if my guess is true," Hojo responded, seeming to become interested on studying Aerith. To him, it was a long time since he found something interesting to study or do research on. Though he knew if they brought him the girl, it would mean that Cloud and company would show up to rescue her like they did with Aeris years ago. It doesn't bother him too much though, since he's used to having many experiments escape him before. Reno gives a funny look at Hojo then finishes his Coca-Cola. "Are you crazy?" Reno asks as he throws the Coke can at Hojo's head. "What about them werewolves? Are they your experiments?"

The can hits Hojo on the side of his head then he looks at Reno and answers, "No, I wouldn't dare to keep a werewolf. If I did, my lab would've been destroyed." Hojo puts his hands behind his back, as if he knows something that no one else in the room didn't. Reno shrugs as he walks back over to the President's chair and sits down on it. Rude, out of curiousity, glances over at Hojo, "Is it true that you can become a werewolf just by getting bit?"

Hojo responds to Rude sarcastically, "Uhh, yeah. They don't come in pretty colors, ya know."

Rude, not liking the sarcastic tone in Hojo's voice, raises an eyebrow, but he remains calm. "Like that black one with the bloody red eyes? That thing was scary."

"Hm?" Hojo responds as he starts to take interest on the werewolf that Rude mentioned. _A black lycan with bloody red eyes, eh? _He thought to himself as he rubs his chin. _Could it be the same lycan that escaped my lab years ago? _Hojo suddenly snaps out of his thoughts when he hears Reno whistling while leaning back against the President's chair, which seems the only thing that's breaking the silence in the room. Rufus gives a sigh through the phone, sounding a bit annoyed with Reno's whistling and bored with the recent conversation. He then speaks, "If this girl is so important, then we should bring her here. You guys do what you want, I have other business attend to." With that said, Rufus hangs up. Hojo gives a chuckle then turns his glance over to Reno, "Reno, you and Rude will bring the girl to me, got it?"

Reno drops his mouth as he looks at Hojo and pouts, "Awww, why do we have to do it?"

Hojo grins evilly, "Because if you don't, I could use you two as my guinea pigs on my most recent research."

Reno gets up from the chair and walks off, grumbling about how he hates how Hojo would threaten to use him as a guinea pig and often wonders why the President even bothered on letting Hojo rejoin ShinRa. He even has wondered how in the world did he get revived. Rude then follows after his partner out of the office, leaving Hojo alone in the room. Hojo watches the two Turks leave with an evil grin on his face before he walks over towards a window. "So you've been seen recently, my specimen," He said to himself. "Now the question remains, where are you hiding yourself? I will find you." He then laughs like a hyena, not caring if anyone else could hear his annoying laughter.

At the 7th Heaven, Aerith was walking downstairs to the bar from her room, carrying a basket. She wore a nice pink green and white dress with a pink hair ribbon tied to her ponytail, and she also wore white shoes. Part of her bangs no longer covered her right eye, which reveals that the color of the eye was blue and her left eye was green. She walks over towards the doorway of the bar with a smile on her face, wanting to go outside. It was one of those days where Cloud didn't need her help with the delivery work and every now and then she would go pick flowers to either decorate the bar or try to sell some to make a bit of money. She looks at Tifa, who was cleaning the bar counter, and asks as she stops at the doorway, "Tifa, can I go pick some flowers?"

Tifa stops wiping the counter and looks at Aerith with a smile then answers, "Sure, you can."

Aerith gives a nod, "Okay. I just thought since Marlene and Denzel are visiting Uncle Barrett for a month, I thought it would be nice to have some flowers for them when they come back."

"Sounds like a great idea. Just don't get hurt and watch out for monsters."

Aerith smiles and gives a nod before skipping out of the bar. Tifa watches her leave and thinks to herself, _She's just like Aeris. She sure likes to be the flower girl. _She smiles to herself then continues to wipe the bar counter. Memories start to play through her mind, like the first she met Aeris. She giggles to herself when she remembers during that time, Cloud dressed up like a girl just to get into Don Corneo's place. She soon snaps out of her daze then goes back to cleaning the counter.

As Aerith stands outside the bar, she stretches as she thinks to herself, maybe I should bring Boco this time. I know he'll like to tag along. She smiles to herself then walks along, heading towards the stables as she watches the people do their own thing. Upon reaching the stables, she can hear some teens, about her age, talk to each other. They seem to be telling each other gossips. "Hey, have you heard that Cloud encountered a werewolf 10 years ago?" One asked to the other.

"Yeah. It's rare to encounter one nowadays, especially around these parts." Responded the other.

"It's surprising that he didn't get bit."

"He does have his trusty Buster sword afterall."

Aerith stops walking as she listened to the teens, then decides to walk towards them since they're near the stable entrance. She thought a simple greeting would be polite as she gives a smile when she looks at them. "Hello there," She said. One of the teens blinks then looks at Aerith before answering, "Uh...Hi."

"Nice weather we're having today."

"Yeah, very nice weather," said the other teen after looking at the one teen then at Aerith. Aerith walks over to the entrance of the stables and opens the door. She then looks back at the teens and gives a smile as she walks inside and slightly closes the door. The teens watch Aerith go into the stables then they look at each other, as if they've been wanting for her to leave and not wanting to have a conversation with her.

"Hey, wasn't that the girl that stays with Cloud?" asks one of the teens.

The other nods then answers, "Yeah, she follows him around like a baby duck following a cat."

"She's been running errands for him and Tifa, and even helps Tifa around the 7th Heaven Bar and decorates it with flowers."

"It makes her the flower girl."

"But what I found strange though was that she doesn't come out on nights during a full moon."

"That is strange. Do you think she could be a werewolf?"

"If she is, Cloud can't keep her. Having a werewolf around could endanger the lives of innocent people here."

"Yeah, but it makes me feel sorry for her though..."

Aerith listens to the whole conversation with her back against the door, having a bit of a sadden look on her face. It is true that she is now a lycan due to getting bit by one before Cloud found her. She knew that Cloud's trying his best to prevent the curse from taking effect, even though it was hard on her on not being able to go out at night at all. She wanted to be able to for once see the night sky, but she didn't want to get into any trouble with her adoptive father. She knew he wanted for her to be like any other typical girl, and she tries her best to fit in and be happy for Cloud's sake. After she finished listening to the teens' conversation, Aerith then closes the door all the way slowly and heads over to one of the stalls. She finds a baby chocobo eating some greens and smiles. "Hello, Boco. Wanna come with me this time?" she asks to the chocobo as she opens the door to the stall. Boco runs around the stall in excitement then responds by making a strange cute sound, "_Kweh! Kweh!_" He walks out of the stall and flaps his wings. Aerith gives a smile as she watches the baby chocobo and picks him up then speaks, "We're going to pick some flowers in the forest today. It's a long walk, but I could use some company."

She closes the stall door and walks towards the stable door with Boco. This time as she walked, she could hear a different group of people talking outside, but telling rumors about Sephiroth making his appearance after all these years. _Sephiroth...Daddy told me about him. He did tell me that he's dead. How could he be alive?_ She thought to herself. Cloud has told her many things about his life, but she never thought that someone like Sephiroth would show himself. She walks out of the stables with Boco and looks around, watching everyone do their own thing. She then makes her way out of Midgar with Boco "kweh-ing" happily. He was given to Aerith from Cloud as a birthday gift. Other than Marlene and Denzel, Boco was the closest thing to a friend Aerith could make.

Back at the 7th Heaven, Tifa was cleaning the tables, thinking to herself, _I bet Aerith decided to take Boco this time. I hope she doesn't run into any danger, especially with the rumors about Sephiroth. I certainly don't want to see her die the same way Aeris did a long ago. Yet, strange things have been appearing lately. What's next? _She shakes her head slightly then looks out through the window, watching Aerith and Boco leave from the stables. She figured that Aerith would take Boco with her since she did need a pet to keep her company. However, Aerith's safety fills Tifa with concern. Ever since Cloud brought Aerith home 10 years ago, she helped him keep the curse a secret, though only a few knew about it. Although she's worried about the possibility of Aerith's curse taking effect, she was more concerned about Aerith's health more than anything. Recently Aerith's overexposure to mako has gotten worse due to an incident that happened 3 years ago and she was hospitalized for weeks after the incident occurred.

Deep in the forest, Aerith was picking flowers along with Boco, who was eating some greens nearby. She holds a handful of flowers to her nose, sniffing the flowers. She closes her eyes, enjoying taking in the nice scent the flowers gave and sighs contently. She opens her eyes and places the flowers into the basket then starts humming to herself. Unknown to her, a figure watches her from a distance then slowly walks toward Aerith's and Boco's direction. Boco perks up from hearing the sound of someone coming, feeling a bit startled. "_Kweh!_" Boco cried out. Aerith stops humming when she heard Boco and looks at the baby chocobo as she heard the sound as well. "I know, Boco. I heard it too." She looks toward the direction where she thought the sound was coming from. As the figure got closer, he appears to be a man with silver hair, wearing a black outfit. He walks by Aerith, looking at her with his blood red eyes as she looks at him in the eyes, showing a bit of fear in her own eyes. They stared at each other for a long while as Boco hides behind Aerith, not seeming to trust the man.

The man stops as he sees the fear in the girl's eyes and gives a slight grin then speaks with a soft tone in his voice, "Don't worry...I have no intention of killing anyone if you seem to think I'm a type who would kill." He then notices Aerith's left arm as Aerith didn't give him a response, noting a scar that was left from the bite wound she got from the lycan she encountered a long time ago. He speaks again, "I see you've become a lycan as well...but you haven't seen your first full moonlight."

Aerith blinks a bit in wonder. _How does he know that I have this curse?_ She thought as she looks at the man. She has the feeling that he could be someone evil, but out of curiousity, asks, "Who...are you?" She has the feeling that something about the man was off, but how could she judge before she got to know him? She suddenly snaps out of those thoughts when the man answers her question, "My identity will be revealed in due time..." He grins softly as he turns to look towards the distance. "We shall meet again, young lycan," he says as he began to walk off. Though as he was walking, Aerith calls out to him, "Wait! Are you human, sir?" The man stops when he heard Aerith and closes his eyes, doesn't turn around to face her as he answers, "I've lost my humanity years ago..." With that said, he continues to walk off until he was out of sight.


	3. Human Or Monster

**Revising sure is a bit of hard work. lol. But I don't mind it and I know alot of others who have read this fanfic before would like to have it revised. Here's chapter 3! And again, I do not own Final Fantasy VII. The characters I own in this chapter are Aerith Strife and the mysterious silver-haired dude.**

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AERITH...THE REINCARNATION OF AERIS?

PART III

HUMAN OR MONSTER

After her encounter with the mysterious young man, Aerith and Boco returned to Midgar. She couldn't help but wonder if the man has been watching her the whole time she was in the forest and debates whether or not if he could be trusted. She also kept wondering how did he know that she has the lycan curse. She knows that only a few knew about and they were her adoptive father, his friends, Tifa, Marlene, and Denzel. Could it be that he could sense that she's a lycan since he's something more than a human? More questions add up in her mind as she walks toward the chocobo stables. Once inside, she walks over to Boco's stall and puts Boco back into it. The baby chocobo kwehs happily as Aerith pats his head and says with a smile on her face, "You be good now, okay?" Boco kwehs happily again then Aerith gives him some greens. She pets the bird afterwards as she watches him eat his greens then heads out of the stables.

Inside the 7th Heaven, there was Tifa, cleaning up the tables as if she was preparing the tables for supper. Aerith walks into the bar with half a basket full of flowers that she picked from the forest earlier. Tifa gives a wave as she saw her walk in and looks at the flowers then comments, "Those are beautiful! They're the best flowers I've seen this year." Tifa walks over to Aerith and takes the basket. She walks over to the bar and sets the basket on the counter. "You're back so soon," She said as she gets a handful of flowers and puts them into a vase. "Did something happen?" She asks.

Aerith walks over to a couch and sits down on it and answers Tifa, "Well, I encountered someone while I was in the forest with Boco." Tifa looks back at Aerith, wondering about who she encountered. She heard about the rumors about Sephiroth making his appearance, but didn't think it would be true. After hearing Aerith's encounter, something clicked in her mind that maybe the rumors might be true afterall. Her eyes widen slightly as she looks at Aerith and asks softly, "Can you describe this person for me?" She wanted to be sure that the rumors aren't true. If they were, then she must make sure that Sephiroth doesn't step foot into bar or make sure Aerith doesn't go anywhere alone.

Aerith, noting the suprised look on Tifa's face, answers, "It was a man...He had long silver hair and red eyes, wearing a black outfit."

Tifa's eyes widen even more after hearing Aerith's description of the man she encountered. _Was it really Sephiroth Aerith encountered?_ _Or was it someone who just looks like him? _She thought to herself. She speaks, "I have a feeling that you might have encountered Sephiroth...He has silver hair and wears a black outfit...but from hearing your description, Sephiroth has green eyes, not red eyes." She shakes her head slightly then places her hand on her chest and asks, "Just to be sure, did he carry a sword?"

Aerith tries to remember if he did carry a sword, but gently shakes her head as she answers, "I don't think so...I was so scared that I didn't even notice."

"Did he tell you his name?"

"All he said was that his identity will be revealed in due time."

"Hmmm...What else did he say?"

"He said something about me not seeing my first full moon and something about himself losing his humanity a long time ago."

Tifa narrows her eyes slightly when hearing Aerith's answer, now growing suspicious about the man. Aerith then speaks more, "There's something about him that seems familiar...I think he's not really evil." Tifa continues to listen to Aerith then gives a slight nod. She knew that if Aerith actually encountered Sephiroth, she would've been killed or must've been really lucky to escape him; However, she still has her suspicions about the man. _Is there a connection between him and Aerith?_ She thought to herself after hearing Aerith mention about there was something about the man that was familiar to her. Aerith looks down to the floor for a short while. She too having some suspicions about the man, but now wanting to change the subject. "Tifa..." She says softly. "What are my parents like? My real parents?"

Tifa suddenly snaps out of her thoughts as she looks at Aerith, her eyes slightly widen in shock as she responds, "You mean you've never seen your parents before?"

Aerith frowns as she looks back up at Tifa. It has been years since she has seen her parents and would like to know more about them. "I faintly remember them...I just want to know some things about them."

Tifa gives a slight frown and sighs before responding, "I hate to say it, but I don't know who your parents are. All I know is that Cloud found you ten years ago, chained up and your left arm covered with blood. He brought you here and took you in as his adopted daughter."

Although she barely knew her parents, Aerith was happy that she does have someone who can take care of her for the time being. She hopes one day, she could find her parents and learn more about them as much as she could, that is if they are still alive. She gives a soft smile as silence fills the bar for a long moment. Then all of a sudden, the door to the bar gets kicked down by Reno. He walks into the bar, along with Rude and a man with orange hair, wearing a white suit. Reno grins as he looks at Tifa and Aerith and yells with an enthusiastic tone in his voice, "Yo wazzup!"

Tifa perks up from her spot when she heard the door get knocked down and looks at the Turks as Aerith looks at them with her eyes widen slightly. "The Turks..." Tifa said then turns her glance to Reno. "What do you want here?" She asked. Reno taps his rod on his shoulder then points it at Aerith as he answers Tifa, "We want the girl, please." He slowly walks over to Tifa as he continues to speak, "It's really simple, just let us have the girl and everything will be honkydorky." All of a sudden, a sound of a record scratch is heard in the background as Rude looks at Reno with a raised eyebrow. "Honkydorky? Don't you mean 'hunky-dory'?" He asked.

Reno stops as he was being corrected by Rude and looks him with a funny look on his face as he flails his hands while speaking, "Man, Rude...You're so rude!"

"I know I'm Rude," Rude said with a teasing grin on his face.

Reno grumbles as the man in the white suit palms his forehead then he walks out of the bar. Tifa watches the Turks then quickly turns her glance over to Aerith then yells out, "Aerith, run! Run as fast as you can!" Aerith shakes her head as she quickly gets up from the couch. "I don't want to leave you, Tifa! I don't want to be alone again!" She exclaims. She didn't want leave Tifa behind, especially since she was the only person close to a mother that she has. With Cloud currently busy with his delivery work, she doesn't know where she could go. Tifa yells out again to Aerith, "Run before they capture you! Go!" Aerith hesitates for a short while then nods her head and runs out of the bar through the back door. Reno watches the girl run out then looks at Rude. "Awww, Rude! Why didn't you grab her?" He pouted.

Rude shrugs and answers, "I thought you were."

Reno grumbles again and starts to run towards the back door then all of a sudden, Tifa runs over after Reno and baseball slides to knock him off his feet. "If you want her, you're gonna have to get through me!" Tifa yelled. She wonders why the ShinRa of all people would come after Aerith. Was it because she resembles Aeris and thought that she could possibility be an Ancient like her? Or maybe they somehow found out about the lycan curse? Tifa wasn't sure, but now Aerith's safety is her first priority. Reno falls on his face to the ground. "Ow!" He yelled. Tifa quickly gets up on her feet as Rude runs towards her and throws a punch at her face.

Meanwhile, Aerith tries to find a place to hide while Tifa fights the Turks. As she runs, she accidently bumps into someone and falls on her rear. "I'm so sorry," she said as she looks up at the person she bumped into, revealing to be the man with the white suit. He looks at Aerith and grins slightly, "Everything will be fine." He grabs Aerith's wrist, but helps her stand up. "You will come with us and no one will get hurt," he said. Aerith eyes widen a bit, but doesn't seem to fight back as the man leads her to a helicopter. Her body trembles slightly as she goes into the helicopter since she didn't have much of a choice.

Back in the 7th Heaven, Reno and Rude stand beside each other, panting slightly, as Tifa stands in front of them, panting slightly as well. As she prepares to fight more, she hears the sound of a helicopter getting ready to take off. Reno and Rude also heard the sound and looked at each other, knowing that their job's been done, then heads outside. Tifa quickly runs outside to see what's going on then her eyes widen when she spots the man in the white suit at the helicopter, still having a grip on Aerith's wrist. "Looking for her?" The man asked as Reno and Rude head over to the helicopter. Tifa then gives an evil glare at the man and yells out, "Let her go, Rufus!"

Rufus shakes his head as he speaks, "I'm sorry, but she has an appointment with us. We'd love to stay, but we got important matters to attend." He suddenly laughs as the helicopter flies off. Aerith watches with fear in her eyes as she gets taken away. Tifa stands in disappointment and slams her fist on the outer wall of the bar, blaming herself on not being able to protect Aerith. Wanting to vent, she goes back inside the bar and punches a wall with her fists.

Moments have passed and Cloud walks into the bar with someone following him. He was a big black man with a gun arm who has an appearance like Mr. T. He looks around the bar as he walked in and Cloud calls out, "Tifa! I'm back! Barret's here too." He suddenly hears the sound of something banging against the wall. He and Barrett sees the source of where the sound was coming from. It was Tifa, who was still banging her fists on the wall. Cloud quickly runs over to her, knowing that something's wrong. "Tifa, what happened?" He asked as he tries to comfort her. Tifa suddenly stops punching the wall as she falls to her knees, but doesn't look at Cloud as she answers softly, "...ShinRa...The ShinRa came and they've kidnapped Aerith." Cloud's eyes widen slightly as he hears this. This is like almost like what happened with Aeris in Cloud's mind. The ShinRa were after her because she was an Ancient and they were also seeking the Promised Land. Though that was before Rufus took over the company after the former President was killed years ago.

He asks Tifa, "What? The ShinRa came? Why?"

"I don't know, but they were after Aerith for some reason. Do you think they've known about her curse?"

Cloud places his hand on her shoulder and shakes his head slightly then answers, "I'm not sure...but even if they did, we will get her back." Tifa looks up at Cloud and gives a nod as Barrett interrupts, "So what do they want from her?" He folds his arms over his chest as he asked the question.

Cloud looks at Barret and answers, "Well, she does resemble Aeris in some way...and reminds us of her...I think the reason why the Aerith is cuz they might have thought she might be an Ancient like Aeris. We're not gonna stand around and let them do what they want with her. We're gonna get her back." He gets a serious look on his face as he said this and Barrett grins as Tifa cracks her knuckles, grinning as well. "Looks like we're going to pay a visit to ShinRa HQ," Tifa said.

Barret holds his gun arm as he speaks, "I don't know about you two, but I'm ready to kick some butt!"

Cloud gives a slight smirk as he listened to what both Tifa and Barret said and says, "Alrighty, let's mosey!" With that said, he runs out of the bar, followed by Barret and Tifa. As they got outside, they could see an airship parked in the distance and they make their way towards it. Little did they know, the mysterious silver-haired man was standing on the roof of the 7th Heaven, watching the gang get ready to take off in the airship. "It seems that our little friends will have a big surprise tonight," He said to himself then he looks at the sky as the sun sets while his silver hair gets blown by the wind. "It's getting dark..." He moves some of his hair out of his face and holds up a rose. He looks at it, admiring its beauty, then he felt his finger getting pricked by one of the thorns on the rose. He looks at his finger as blood oozes from it and slowly flows down to his hand then he grins. "It's going to be a beautiful night for a beautiful rose who's yet to reveal her thorns. What will they see then? A human? Or a monster?" He says as he looks toward the ShinRa building.


	4. Don't Cry Wolf Who Howl's Alone

**Mwahahaha...two chapters revised in one day. I do say it's looking better and better by the minute ;P**

**NOTE: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, but I do own Aerith Strife and the black werewolf in this chapter.**

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AERITH...THE REINCARNATION OF AERIS?

PART IV

DON'T CRY WOLF, WHO HOWLS ALONE

At the bridge of the airship, Cloud looks at the sky with a look of concern in his face. Not only he was worried about Aerith currently being in the hands of the ShinRa, he was also worried about her lycan curse might take effect tonight. If the transformation happens, there might be a possibility that the ShinRa might kill her. Cloud hopes that they could reach ShinRa HQ before Aerith transforms. Tifa watches him stare at the sky, noticing his concern as she walks over to him. "It's getting dark," She said, with a hint of concern in her voice.

"Yeah, I think a full moon is out tonight," said Cloud.

"And that's what I'm afraid of." Tifa responded as she looks at the sky. She too is concerned about Aerith's lycan curse taking effect tonight. All of a sudden, a man, who seems to be the pilot of the airship, walks into the bridge, smoking his cigarette. He notices Tifa and Cloud staring at the sky then walks over to them as he listened to their conversation. "What?" He interrupted. "Scared of the boogeyman?" He laughs a bit then inhales the cigarette and blows out smoke. Cloud looks at Cid and answers, "No, Cid...In case you've forgotten, Aerith has the lycan curse."

Cid suddenly drops his jaw by surprise and his cigarette falls to the ground. He yells, "What!? Why in -bleep- did you keep a lycan!?"

Cloud responds, "I didn't want to leave her there and die...besides all those years, I have prevented the transformation from taking place. I didn't let her go out at night at all...not even after sunset. I keep the windows closed at night as well." Cloud looks back at the sky as Cid picks up his cigarette. He grumbles about how it's a bad idea to keep people who are have a lycan curse and walks over to steer the airship, getting it out of autopilot. Barrett watches with his back against a wall and speaks to Cloud in wonder, "So, Spikey, she hasn't transformed yet?"

"No, she hasn't...but I'm afraid that tonight might be her first," he responded as he shakes his head.

Tifa looks at Cloud, her eyes filled with concern as she speaks, "I don't think the ShinRa know that she's a lycan."

Cid just listens to the conversation as he smoke his cigarette, feeling confused, but doesn't want to show it to everybody. Barret goes into deep thought as Cid turns his attention to Tifa. "That's not good," He said. "What else is new?" Just when Tifa was about to answer, Cloud responds, "Her body is overly exposed to mako...and with her lycan curse taking effect, I'm worried that she might not control herself." He continues to look at now moonlit sky, remembering that Aerith's overexposure to mako has gotten worse since the incident 3 years ago.

Cid gives a slight frown, "You mean she now has mako poisoning? Geez man, what in -bleep- were you thinking when she was let out of the hospital 3 years ago? You know that she needed more treatment, otherwise she wouldn't have gotten worse." He grumbles as he takes another smoke from his cigarette. He remembers having to help Cloud take Aerith to a hospital at a nearby town 3 years ago since there weren't any good medical facilities in Midgar. Cloud looks at Cid as he heard his questions. Exactly what was he thinking that day when Aerith was let out of the hospital? Did he just wanted for her to come home? Or was he more worried about the lycan curse taking effect if she ended up having to stay for more days? As far he knew, he feels regret for being more worried about the curse than her mako poisoning. Cid looks back at Cloud, "You know...you sure make a good father for being so concerned about her like that."

Cloud suddenly snaps out of his thoughts when he heard Cid's comment about him being a good father then sighs, "I'm not much of a good father to her. I found her 10 years ago...and she was just a small child with no one around to look up to. I'm still wondering why anyone would chain a child like that and leave her there defenseless...and alone. Speaking of which, I haven't gotten any luck from finding out who her parents are...and I've been worried about her curse taking effect all this time, I haven't realized that her overexposure to mako was taking its toll on her."

The airship was then filled with silence, except for the sound of the airship running. After a short while, Tifa was in deep thought about the recent events. The thought of losing Aerith was something she nor Cloud didn't want to happen. Tifa knew that something happened to Aerith, Cloud would be even more devastated than he was before. Suddenly she snaps out of her thoughts as she remembers something Aerith told her then looks at Cloud and speaks, "Earlier before the Turks came, Aerith told me that she encountered a man with silver hair while she was in the forest."

Cloud turns his attention to Tifa, his eyes widen slightly as he responds, "You mean she...met _him_?"

"I was surprised myself...I almost thought she encountered Sephiroth himself, but she told me that the man she encountered had red eyes."

"Red eyes? Hmm...What was his name?"

"She didn't say...though she said something about there was something about him that seemed familiar to her."

Cloud begins to wonder about who this silver-haired man might be. He doesn't remember seeing someone like that before, but his mind was filled with questions that really needed to be answered. As he was about to go into deep thought, Cid snaps him out of his thoughts. "So how was your search for that werewolf?" Cloud perks up and looks at Cid as he shakes his head. "Not so good. I never saw it again ever since I found Aerith...but I remember how it looked like. It was big with black fur and bloody red eyes." He said then all of a sudden, something clicks in his mind. "I wonder..."

Meanwhile at ShinRa Headquarters, Aerith was sitting on a chair in Rufus's office as Hojo examines her. She was still trembling in fear when Rufus and the Turk brought her to the building, wondering why they did, but she knew that there wasn't much she could do on trying to resist. She hopes that Cloud and Tifa would come to take her home soon. Hojo then speaks as he adjusts his glasses, "You sure do resemble Aeris. Very interesting..." Aerith becomes confused as she looks at the whacked scientist. "What do you want from me?" She asked softly, wondering why everyone keeps saying that she resembled Aeris. She remembers Cloud telling her about Aeris and how she meant to him. Before she could get any more questions in her mind, Hojo responds to her with a slight grin, "You are a very unique person, my dear. I just need you so I can figure out if my guesses are correct." Tears start to form in Aerith's eyes as Reno walks into the office, along with Rufus. Reno notices the tears in Aerith's eyes then looks at Hojo and speaks, "Awww, man. Whycha make her cry for?"

Hojo looks at the red-haired Turk as he places his hands behind his back and responds, "I didn't do it, thank you very much."

"Man...You're so rude...like Rude!" Reno gives a sigh then turns his attention to Rufus. "Hey, where's Tseng?"

Rufus walks over to his chair and sits down on it. "He and Elena are currently on vacation." He responded. Reno's jaw drops when he heard this and flails his arms as he yells out, "No fair! How come I don't get to go on vacation!? This stinks!" He pouts as he seems to get the feeling that Rufus has always considered Tseng the favored Turk. He wonders how Tseng does it to get vacations like that from Rufus. He gives a sigh as he walks over toward a window that was covered with a curtain then he glances over at Aerith, who had tears falling from her cheeks. He never seen anyone as frightened as she was towards him and everyone else in the building. He watches Hojo walk over to Rufus and speaks with him about his research. Reno gives a shrug as he taps his rod on his shoulder.

Aerith, noticing that everyone else in the room was too occupied with something else, tries to get up from the chair and tries to leave the room. As soon as she takes her first step, she turns her attention toward a window, that's not covered. She slowly walks over towards it then jumps a bit when Reno called out to her, "Don't even think about escaping, kay?" He continues to tap his rod on his shoulder, but keeps his eye on her. Aerith gives a slight nod as she bites her bottom lip and looks through the window, noticing the full moon. Reno shake his head a bit then turns his attention to Hojo. "Hey, Hojo. Why do we need her?"

Hojo looks at Reno and responds, "She is a unique person. Maybe we could learn something more from her."

Reno's eye twitches as he listens to Hojo and thinks to himself, _Why did I bother asking?_ There was silence for a short moment, then all of a sudden, they could hear the sound of howling then Reno removes the curtains and opens the window. He peeks his head out and looks to the right then to the left, wondering where the howling was coming from. Hojo then palms his forehead and yells, "Reno! You idiot!" He shakes his head.

Reno pulls his head back in and glances at Hojo. "What?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "I was trying to see what was that howling noise."

"That's the sound of a werewolf howling, you moron. You would've let one in here by opening that window."

"Well excuuuuuse me for trying to find the source," Reno grumbles then looks at the sky. "Hey, nice full moon." They could hear another howling noise, but this time it sounded nearby. "Whoa! That sounded close!" Reno yelled out in surprise as he looks over to Rufus, waiting for his orders as Rude comes into the office and glances over to Aerith, noticing that she was now laying on the floor, curling up as she hugs her legs. She was feeling pain, but her eyes seems to be in a trance like state as they give off a strange greenish glow. Rude then looks to Rufus, "Sir...I think we have a problem with the girl."

Rufus looks to Aerith and turns his glance over to Reno. "Reno, you and Rude will look after the girl while Hojo and I find where the howling is coming from." Rufus demanded as he pulls out his gun and starts to search around the office. Reno thinks to himself as he walks over to Rude, _How come I'm always with Rude? He's so rude. _Just about Reno was about say something, they heard yet another noise, but this time it's a growling noise and its loud. Reno quickly grips his rod tightly and looks near that window he looked through earlier and finds a lycan standing on the window sill, growling deeply. The same lycan that bit Aerith 10 years ago. Reno's eyes widen in shock and yells out as he points at the lycan, "G-Guys! There's that werewolf I told ya about! Ya know, the one that looks like Rude!"

Hojo and Rufus run over to Reno and look to where he was pointing. Hojo spots the lycan with the look of amazement on his face and says, "Oh my, there really is a lycan in here!" He gives a slight grin as he examines the creature. _So you've finally shown yourself after years of hiding yourself. _He thought to himself as Rufus aims his gun at the black lycan. "Let's kill it before it causes damage in here!" Rufus demanded.


	5. A Lycon Is, What A Lycon Does

**NOTE: I do not own Final Fantasy VII. In this chapter, I own lycan Aerith and the black lycan.**

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AERITH...THE REINCARNATION OF AERIS?

PART V

A LYCAN IS, WHAT A LYCAN DOES

The black werewolf snarls at the two turks, Rufus, and Hojo as it jumps inside the building, baring its fangs. It slowly starts to walk over towards the group then Rufus fires a warning shot near its feet. "Stay back, beast!" He yells out as Reno stands nearby to protect the President if the creatures makes its move to attack Rufus. As they prepare to fight as Hojo stands behind, watching the encounter about to turn into a fight. Then all of a sudden, they could hear another growling noise. Rude looks over at the source of the growling then looks over to Rufus and reports, "Sir, I think we have another problem." Rufus, who seems to be keeping his eye on the black lycan, responds, "What is it now, Rude?"

Just about when Rude was about to answer, the black lycan leaps toward Rufus and Reno and swipes at them with its claws. Rufus fires another shot at the creature's shoulder as Reno dashes over and swipes his metal rod at the lycan, knocking it away from Rufus as he sends an electric shock from the rod to the creature. The lycan slides across the room on its side, stunned from the electric shock. Reno gives a grin in triumph as looks at the lycan, "Ha! Never mess with Reno of the Turks!" He laughs then all of a sudden something knocks him down to the ground. It was another werewolf, but with brown fur and its eyes giving off a greenish glow. Reno screams like a girl as he struggles to get away from the creature's grasp as it raises its paw to slash at Reno's face, but then Rufus fires another shot, hitting the lycan's paw. It gives a howl in pain then quickly moves away from Reno, who was getting up panting a bit then he looks at Rufus with a twinkle in his eyes. "Thank you, Mr. President! You're my favorite boss!"

Rufus rolls his eyes as he heard Reno then responds, "Where did this one come from?" He looks at brown lycan as it gives a growl, baring its fangs. He then aims his gun at the creature, but Rude raises his hand and interrupts, "Um...Sir. To answer your question, that creature is the girl we've kidnapped. She's no longer human as you can see." Rufus then palms his forehead with his free hand as he thinks to himself, _Why wasn't I informed about that sooner? I'm surrounded by idiots._ He looks at Rude briefly then looks at Reno, giving them a look that's telling them that their salary is gonna be lowered, and asks, "Why didn't you idiots tell me that the girl is a lycan? You know that I don't like supernatural things roaming around the building, except for Dark Nation." He then fires a warning shot at Aerith, making her back away.

Reno looks at Rufus and answers his question, "Hey! How was I supposed to know!?" He grumbles since he knew that his salary's gonna be lowered and grumbled about Rufus's comment about not liking supernatural creature roaming around the building, saying that it is a total load of trash. As he and Rufus were arguing, the black lycan slowly gets up on its feet and growls deeply. Rude gives a sigh then interrupts, "We can argue later, but right now we've got two lycans in here to deal with." All of a sudden, the black lycan stalks over to Reno and swipes the rod out of his hand with its paw as it growls deeply. Reno screams like a girl and runs to hide behind Rufus's desk. _What are we gonna do? We can't risk getting the disease. _He thought then snaps his fingers when something clicked in his mind and calls out to Rufus, "Hey, Rufus! Call for Dark Nation!"

Rufus calls back to Reno, "I can't! Dark Nation is at the vet!"

Reno falls to the floor anime style and speaks, "What!? At a time like this!?"

Hojo watches from a safe distance, laughing as he seems to be amused what's been going on. Rude runs over to Rufus to guard him in case if one of the lycans would attack them, then suddenly the black lycan jumps toward Rude and Rufus, but all of a sudden Aerith tackles the creature down. She, having difficulty to tell friend from foe, bites down at the black lycan's arm hard. Reno still hides behind the desk, his eyes closed tightly as he whines, "We're gonna die! That's it for me! I haven't even gotta chance to go on a date yet! Waaaaaahhhhh!!!" Unknown to him that the two lycans were now fighting each other. Everybody looks at Reno's direction with weird looks on their faces. "Um...Reno?" Rude asks.

"Am I dead yet?"

"Look." Rufus interrupted as he points at the two lycans fighting. The red-haired Turk watches with a look of confusion in his face and scratches his head, not understanding why they would attack each other like that. Rufus, Hojo, and Rude run over to Reno to hide behind the desk. Rufus speaks as he tries to reload his gun, "This is not a good sign."

Hojo interrupts, "They'll destroy anything in their path."

Reno gives a sigh, "Can't things get any worse."

Rude, Rufus, and Hojo gives Reno an evil look. _He just had to say those words...Now things are gonna get worse. _Rufus thought as Hojo answers Reno's question, "The worst part is that it must be the girl's first time time in her lycan form. Because of it, she's gone berserk...she won't listen to anyone or care about anything." Hojo gives a slight grin, as if he's enjoying the sight so far, and comments, "Cloud really done his homework for preventing something like this to happen.

Rufus looks to Hojo, not liking the fact that he seemed to be enjoying himself, but he kept a concerned look as he speaks to the whacked scientist, "So we can't get her back to her senses?"

"That is correct, though she won't last very long. From examining her earlier, I noticed that her body is seriously exposed to mako. This fight will end shortly since she is at a disadvantage as far as her health goes."

"And what about the black one?"

Hojo was silent about the subject on the lycan for a short moment then mumbles, "That one...I don't know about." Of course in his mind, he does actually know something about the lycan, but to make it look like he doesn't know anything, he adjusts his glasses as he rubs his chin. "Hmmm..." As they stay hidden behind the desk, both werewolves fall down the stairs while fighting each other. The sounds of snarls and growls was heard until the sounds faded as they tumbled down the stairs.

Hours later, Cloud, Barret, and Tifa made it to ShinRa Headquarters after parachuting down from the airship. Cloud runs over to a side door and opens it as he walks into the room, deciding to run up the stairs since it's a more quiet way to rescue Aerith. It worked when they went to rescue Aeris years ago. Barret follows Cloud into the room with Tifa and looks at the stairs with a sigh. "Man, not this again."

Cloud glances over at Barret with a smile and responds, "It may be tiring, but we'll be able to get in quietly...and it gives our legs some exercise." He chuckles a bit. Barret grumbles as he, Cloud, and Tifa start their trek up the stairs to the 60th floor. Throughout the way, Barret complained with Tifa as Cloud has his thoughts on saving Aerith before she gets killed. Once they have reached the 60th, the trio stands near the door, panting and feeling tired from running up the stairs. They could hear noises coming from the other side of the door. Cloud walks over to the door to open it and walks into a big room as Tifa and Barret follow him. "Somethng's coming our way..." Cloud said quietly as he heard the sound of something walking close toward their direction.

Tifa looks around the area as she heard Cloud and responds, "I heard it too."

Barret grins as he holds his gun arm. "Let 'em come! I'm ready to kick some ShinRa butt!"

Cloud nods as he gets ready to draw his sword then all of a sudden, a feline-like creature jumps out from the shadows in front of the trio. It slowly walks toward them as Cloud watches it with confusion. _Dark Nation? I thought he was supposed to be at the vet today._ He thought as he scratches the back of his head as Tifa watches in confusion as well then asks Cloud, "Wasn't he supposed to be at the vet today?"

Cloud gives a nod then answers, "Yeah, I did see Rufus go to the vet with Dark Nation early this morning. He was dropping Dark Nation off then he just left the vet."

Dark Nation sits near the trio, noting their confusion about his appointment at the vet, then begins to speak, "My master is in danger." Barret, Tifa, and Cloud look at the creature in shock, surprised that it could talk. Tifa then asks, blinking a bit, "He...can talk?"

Cloud blinks in confusion, "Holy cheese!" Even he didn't know that Dark Nation could speak. The creature didn't speak before when Cloud fought Rufus years ago. The room was filled with silence as the trio look at each other for a bit then after a while, Barret glances at Dark Nation. "Hey, cat! Since when did you know how to talk?"

Feeling slightly amused on the trio's confusion, the creature decides to answer Barret, "Since ten years ago. Hojo wanted to test out an experiment on making an animal speak the human language. Also during that time, he became fascinated with demons and lycans due to their sudden appearances. It's rare to encounter such creatures nowadays, but it seems now they'll become common." Tifa then scratches the back of her head in confusion as she listened to what Dark Nation had to say. _How would Rufus trust Hojo on doing something like that to his pet? _She thought to herself. _I know Hojo works for him, but he is a whacked-up scientist like that psycho doctor in the papers that wants the human race to be destroyed._ She shakes her head slightly then turns her attention back at Dark Nation and says, "Demons? Lycans? Could that be the reason why Aerith was brought here? Is it because of her lycan curse?"

Cloud looks at Dark Nation in wonder after hearing his words as he thinks to himself, _I have read in the papers about someone trying to open a portal for demons to come into this world, but it doesn't explain how lycans are suddenly appearing._ Dark Nation closes his eyes as he responds to Tifa's question, "After Reno and Rude gave their report to my master, Hojo became interested with the girl Cloud has found. This 'Aerith', I pressume. He believes that she could be Aeris's reincarnation." Cloud suddenly snaps out of his thoughts and turns his attention to Dark Nation with wide eyes. "Aeris's reincarnation?" He asked softly.

At the entrance of ShinRa HQ, a man with long black hair and a mole on his forehead, wearing a suit similar to the suits Reno and Rude were wearing. He walks towards the door with a girl with blonde hair, wearing a suit as well. They were properly dressed for work and ready for anything...well, almost anything. "Hey, Tseng. Are you sure it's a good idea to go to work this early in the morning? It's like 6:30 a.m. The sun's almost out." The girl said to the man, whom she called Tseng.

Tseng gives a nod as they stopped at the door. "Yes, I'm sure. I like to be early and besides, I get a good salary when I come early," he responded. The girl smiles at Tseng and thinks to herself, _He does have a point. Afterall, we get here before Reno does and it gives me a chance to be with Tseng. Besides with Reno around, he messes up my moments with my beloved Tseng. Just standing here beside him makes me feel so good. _She lets out a sigh of content then Tseng looks at her with a weird look on his face. _She must be having one of her 'wanted' fantasies about me again. Will she ever quit that? _He thought to himself._ I think of that as an 'unwanted' fantasy._


	6. Dark Nation’s Passage and Elena’s Fantas

**NOTE: I do not own Final Fantasy VII. I only own the unconscious Aerith Strife and the silver-haired guy in this chapter.**

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AERITH...THE REINCARNATION OF AERIS?

PART VI

DARK NATION'S PASSAGE & ELENA'S FANTASY "REMEDY"

After a long train of throught, Tseng reaches into his pocket as he looks over to the blonde girl. "Elena, I got something for you," he said. Elena snaps out her thoughts when she heard Tseng and looks him with wide eyes. _Oh my! Tseng has a gift for me! Me! Elena! I bet got me that bracelet that I always wanted or that diamond ring. _She thought to herself as she becomes excited. _He's showing his love for me! _She watches Tseng search his pocket and pull out a Snickers bar. He looks at the chocolate bar briefly then hands it to Elena. "Here you go," he said as Elena takes the Snickers and looks at it with her eye twitching while a sound of a record scratch is heard in the background. "Tseng...It's a Snickers," she pouts.

Tseng responds with a straight face, "Of course it is. You've been having these 'fantasies' and that is a side effect from hunger. Next time grab a Snickers bar and don't let hunger happen to you again."

Elena suddenly falls to the ground anime style and thinks to herself, _Oh, the pain! The agony! Of all things, it had to be a Snickers bar! I already had breakfast this morning. _She gets back up on her feet as Tseng sighs and he shakes his head, "Come on. We have to report to the President." They walk into the building while Elena eats her Snickers and found that the lights were still on as if they've been on all night long. Elena scratches her head in confusion as she looks around. "That's funny...The lights are usually off when we get here." She says as she pulls out her gun.

"Yeah. It's quiet in here...too quiet," Tseng responds as he too pulls out his gun. They slowly walk over towards an elevator, keeping on high alert in case an ambush happens. Tseng starts to have suspicions on what's going on, having a feeling that someone might've snuck into the building. For now, his first priority is to reach the President and ensure that he is safe from any harm or danger that might've occurred while he was at vacation. Elena, on the other hand, grumbles about Tseng giving her the Snickers bar, instead of something better. Once they got to the elevator, Tseng presses the "UP" button and waits for the elevator as Elena looks around, still eating her Snickers.

Meanwhile on the 60th floor, Dark Nation gets up on all fours and looks at Cloud, Barret, and Tifa. "Come, we don't have much time." He said as he starts to walk off. Cloud gives a nods and follows after the creature along with Tifa and Barret. Barret looks at an elevator and asks Cloud, "Why couldn't we just take the elevator?" Cloud shakes his head in response, having a bit of suspicion on the elevator. "It wouldn't be a good idea to take the elevator," he said. "During situations like this, elevators tend to malfunction and we'll be trapped." He then turns his attention to Dark Nation and asks, "Is there a shortcut to Rufus's office?"

Dark Nation closes his eyes for a few seconds as he answers, "I know a secret passage that leads straight into the Conference room, but only I know about it."

Tifa looks at Dark Nation with a smile, "Well then, lead the way."

The creature gives a nod as he opens his eyes and leads the trio into a corridor. He pushes a box aside then places his paw on the wall and presses on it as he feels around for a switch. The trio watches Dark Nation as he suddenly presses a spot on the wall, revealing it to a button. Part of the wall opens up, revealing an old passageway with cobwebs, small bones, and rats, oh my. _I never thought ShinRa HQ would have a secret passage. _Cloud thought as he and the others continue to follow Dark Nation.

At the top floor, Hojo, Reno, Rude, and Rufus were still hiding behind the desk. Reno says, "Man, we need to get out of here."

Rufus, having finished reloading his gun, looks at the red-haired Turk then demands with a smirk, "Reno, I need you to go to the elevator and get help!"

Reno gives a funny look as he responds, "Are you crazy!? There's no way I'm leaving this spot! You know that elevators tend to stop working in situations like these!"

"Fine then. I was going to give you a raise in your paycheck."

Reno's eyes suddenly turn into $ signs and gives a broaden smile, "Okay, you win!"

"Just be careful. You never know if they'll return." Rufus says then he peeks his head from under the desk to look around the room. Noticing there no sign of the two lycans, Rufus gives Reno the signal to go. Reno gives a nod as he quickly moves out from under the desk and gets his rod from the floor. As he makes his way to the elevator, he sees blood and claw marks on the walls. _Okay...So far reaching the elevator is easy, but no sign of the lycans anywhere. _He thought to himself. _Sure I see blood and scratches, but not them. _Once he reached the elevator, he presses the "DOWN" button and goes into the elevator before pressing the "1" button. He looks through the window while the elevator was going down to the first floor. _The sun's coming up already? _He thought._ Man, I wonder what time it is. _He pulls his sleeve up a bit and checks the time on his watch. _6:50 a.m.!? We've been hiding here all night long? _He gives a sigh. _After this, I'm gonna take a nap and they better not wake me up._

The elevator reaches the 1st floor and the door opens. To Reno's surprise as he was about to walk out of the elevator, he spots Tseng and Elena. "Tseng! You're back from vacation?" He asked then glances over to Elena. "You're here too?" Elena gives a look of surprise as she thinks to herself, Oh great! There goes my moment with Tseng! She then responds, "Of course I'm here! What are you doing here this early in the morning!?"

"For your information, Cupcake, I've been here ever since last night."

"Don't ever call me 'Cupcake' again, got it?" Elena said as she glares at Reno evilly, grumbling that only Tseng could call her that.

"Yeah, yeah."

Tseng gives a sigh then shakes his head as he listened to Reno and Elena, but turns his attention to Reno, wondering why he was at Headquarters all night. His suspicions grew even more as he really gets the feeling that something happened. He then asks the red-haired Turk, "You've been here since last night?" Reno gives a nod and explains to Tseng what went on. He tells him about the report about Cloud finding Aerith ten years ago and Hojo's theory on Aerith being Aeris's reincarnation. Tseng, now becoming interested from hearing about Aerith, nods his head slightly as he listened to Reno's report. Elena, not even paying any attention, grumbles about Reno's stealing her with Tseng away. Reno looks at the blonde girl with a funny look on his face, wondering what in the world she had for breakfast this morning. He reaches into his pocket and gives Elena a Snickers bar.

Elena looks at the chocolate bar with her eye twitching and asks, "Reno...Why did you give me a Snickers bar?"

"Cuz you've been having those 'fantasies' again and that's another side effect from hunger," Reno answered with a straight face and smirks. "SNICKERS! Don't let hunger happen to you!" He laughs as Elena gives Reno an evil glare with her right eye twitching. _WHY IS EVERYBODY GIVING ME A SNICKERS BAR!? I DON'T NEED THAT STUFF! I ALREADY HAD BREAKFAST!_ She thought as Reno keeps laughing.

Elsewhere in the building, the silver-haired man looks through the window as he stands near a stairway, noticing that it is already morning. He had a few wounds as if he's been attacked and had already bandaged most of the wounds. He walks downstairs, searching for someone. Once he got downstairs, he finds Aerith unconscious, now back as a human, on the floor with a deep gash on her stomach and a few scratches, plus the bullet wound on her hand from when Rufus shot her. He frowns as he walks up to her and kneels beside her as he bandages her wounds. After a while, he picks her up and begins to walk up the stairs. Once he reached the top of the stairway, he spots Reno, who is still laughing, Tseng, and Elena. He hids himself in the shadows as he watches the three Turks.

Elena smacks Reno upside the head a few times as Tseng places his hand on his forehead and shakes his head. He then looks around as he suddenly gets a gut feeling that someone's watching them. He doesn't see the silver-haired man, who is staying hidden in the shadows with Aerith. Tseng holds his gun close to him and says, "Someone's nearby..." At hearing this, Reno and Elena stopped what they're doing and Reno speaks with a funny tone in his voice, "Use the Force, Tseng. Let it be your guide." Elena then smacks Reno upside the head as Tseng raises an eyebrow. Reno then looks around the room as well as he felt that someone is here as well. "My Turk senses are tingling..." he said then looks at Elena. "Elena! I need you to do the 'Power Chant' with me!"

Elena raises an eyebrow and asks, "Power Chant? What Power Chant?"

Reno smacks his forehead when she asked him then shows her how to do the chant. Elena gives a funny look as she watched. "Ready?" He asked as Elena blinked. "Uh...Sure." They both started clapping each other's hands as Reno says the chant.

"Patty Cake,

Patty Cake,

ShinRa Man!

Give me Turk Power

As fast as you can!"

Tseng smacks his forehead after watching the performance. _What kind of chant is that? _He thought. _How did he grow up to be like that? This is not the 'Super Mario Brothers Super Show'. _The silver-haired man raises an eyebrow as he shakes his head, thinking, _What a bunch of idiots._ He then looks at the unconscious Aerith, knowing that he must find Cloud soon and possibly find something that can save her from the mako poisoning.


	7. Enter Demon, The New Turk

**NOTE: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or the girl wearing the blue and black outfit with the dog. (Even though the girl and the dog are off camera.) I only own the unconscious Aerith Strife and Demon the silver-haired Turk.**

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AERITH...THE REINCARNATION OF AERIS?

PART VII

ENTER DEMON, THE NEW TURK

Cloud and company continue to go through the secret passage, led by Dark Nation. As they walked, Cloud asks the creature out of curiosity, "Hey, Dark Nation?" Dark Nation stops walking and looks at him as the others stopped walking as well. "What is it?" the creatured asked.

"Aren't you supposed to be at the vet or was your appointment cancelled?"

"I was," Dark Nation answered. "Master Rufus took me over there and dropped me off. Though I had a feeling that he would be in danger during my appointment so I left. Why do you ask?"

Cloud shakes his head slightly as he responds, "Nothing...just curious."

"Just between you and me, I just wanted to get away from that place. In my opinion, they don't know what they're doing."

Tifa giggles as she listens to Cloud and Dark Nation speak to each other and interrupts with a smile, "Don't worry, our lips are sealed." Dark Nation gives a nod then slightly shudders as he remembers his last appointment with the vet. His last visit didn't turn out too well. He shakes his head a bit, snapping out of his thoughts, and speaks, "And I wanted to get away from that annoying dog. Some girl wearing blue and black outfit brought a dog and that thing wouldn't stop barking at me." The creature rolls his eyes as he spoke, seeming to want to attack that dog to shut it up. He sighs before starting to walk again. The trio starts to follow Dark Nation again as Cloud speaks to the creature, "There's one thing that bothers me. How did you know that Rufus would be in danger?" There was silence in the area for a while then Dark Nation answers, "I've heard the sound of howling."

Cloud's eyes widen a bit in surprised, now fearing that Aerith have already transformed into a lycan. _This is what I've feared. She saw her first full moon. _He thought to himself. _I hope she's alright. _He never thought that it would happened, but it did. Now he hopes that she's still alive and well once he finds her. He didn't want to lose her. Not this way. A look of determination shows in his eyes as they followed Dark Nation through the passage. Once the party reached to what seems to be a dead end, Dark Nation walks toward a corner and presses a button. All of a sudden, the wall in front of them opens up, revealing the Conference Room. The gang walks into the room and looks around. Tifa gives a soft sigh of relief that the room was empty and glances over to Cloud. "We made it to the Conference Room. So now what?"

Cloud answers with determination in his voice, "We're going to Rufus's office. Let's mosey!" He starts to run out of the conference room, making his way to Rufus's office. Barret gives a smirk as he follows after the spikey-haired man as Tifa gives a smile while she follows as well. Dark Nation, seeming to have taken a head start, heads up to the President's office. Meanwhile, Reno, Tseng, and Elena were running up the stairs to get to the 60th floor. They missed the elevator due to being side-tracked with Tseng wanting Reno to tell him what had happened. Tseng suggested not to wait on the next elevator, but take the stairway. Most of the way up, Reno and Elena complained about not wanting to run up the stairs again. Little did they know, they were being followed by the silver-haired man, who is staying hidden in the shadows while carrying Aerith. Reno gives a sigh, seeming to get slightly tired. "Hey, Tseng..." He said, panting a bit. "Do you have this feeling that someone's following us?"

Tseng, panting slightly, answers, "I kinda do. Something's not right here." With that said, all three Turks stop running and looks around with their weapons drawn out. Alright, I can do this. I've chanted the Power Chant so I got some good luck. Reno thought to himself. Nobody messes with Reno of the Turks! Elena then looks behind her, noticing something moving, and quickly turns to face Tseng. "Hey, Tseng," She said. "I just saw something move." Elena points to where she saw whatever it was as Tseng and Reno look at that direction. Tseng then looks at Reno, signaling him to go check it out. Reno gives a funny look and points at himself. Tseng gives a nod and motions him to go. Reno gives a sigh and grumbles about why didn't he sent Elena since she spot it first. _Why is always me to do the checking?_ He thought to himself. _They treat me like some kinda guinea pig._ Just as Reno was about to move, a mouse jumps out of nowhere. Elena screams and jumps into Tseng's arms. "Save me, Tseng!" She yelled out. "Keep that filthy beast away from me!" Reno busts out laughing as he saw Elena's reaction to the mouse.

Tseng's eye twitches as he saw the mouse and demands, "Elena...You have 5 seconds to get off of me right now."

Elena blushes with embarrassment then gets out of Tseng's arms, even though she was enjoying being in his arms, as Reno still laughs at her. "Hey, we're being followed by a mouse! Scary!" He exclaimed, still laughing. "For a moment, I actually thought we were being followed by someone." Elena glares at Reno and smacks him upside the head, grumbling. From the shadows, the silver-haired man watches the Turks. _Looks like I don't have a choice, but to show myself._ He thought to himself as he slowly sneaks behind the Turks quietly, knowing that's the only option if he intends to find Cloud in time. Elena then speaks to Reno, "So, genius, if we were followed, then how would you describe our stalker?"

Reno laughs nervously and scratches the back of his head, showing that he doesn't know, but tries to hide when he speaks, "That...I can't say. My Turk senses are still tingling." The red-haired Turk looks around, having a feeling that they were being following. Tseng was still having suspicions as he holds his gun close to him. Noticing that the Turks haven't spotted him yet, the silver-haired man sneaks over behind Reno quietly with a grin on his face then speaks softly, "Are you sure that those senses are true, my red-haired friend?" Reno freaks out as he jumps after hearing the man speak, but doesn't turn around to face him. "The Force is my guide! It never lets me down!" The red-haired Turk yelled out. Tseng and Elena quickly turn to face Reno, spotting the man behind and out of habit, pointed their guns at the strange man. Reno notices the two Turks pointing their guns and quickly raises his hands as he makes a wierd look, thinking that they were aiming at him. He slowly turns around and sees the man, then suddenly points his finger at him and screams like a girl for a while.

Reno then calms himself down, taking deep breaths before speaking to the silver-haired man, "Oh, it's you...I hate it when you do that." The man chuckles, feeling amused from Reno's reaction as Tseng lowers his gun, seeming to be recognizing him as well, but Elena still points her gun at the man. Reno then spots the unconscious Aerith in the man's arms then asks, "What in blazes did you do to her?" He blinks a bit then suddenly gets a thought as he yells out. "I know you didn't!"

The man shakes his head slightly then responds, "We're wasting time. We must reach the President's office quickly." He starts to run up the stairs to the 60th floor as Tseng watches before noticing Aerith in the man's arms. His eyes widen slightly as he saw her. _It couldn't be..._ He thought then remembers what Reno told him and follows after the silver-haired man. "Demon, wait up!" Elena watches in confusion. _Who in blazes is that guy?_ She thought to herself. _Apparently Tseng and Reno knows him. Is he one of us? I must know!_ She then calls out to Tseng as she follows after them, "Tseng! Who is that guy!?"

Reno follows as well and answers the blonde girl, "That's Demon, the newest member of the Turks."

"He's a Turk? I didn't know that." Elena responded.

"The story goes like this...Once upon a time, this silver-haired dude joined the Turks one day under the alias 'Demon' to hide his identity, and never shows up during full moon nights. The end!"

"Hey, that can't be the end!"

"Shaddap! I say it's the end when I say so!"

"Reno...How can that guy be a Turk if he's not in uniform?"

"Sephiroth wasn't in uniform either when he was in SOLDIER. A Turk is free to wear whatever he or she likes!"

Elena gives a slight glare at Reno as Tseng gives a sigh, forgetting that she wasn't there when Demon joined the Turks. "Demon, this is Elena, another member of the Turks." He said to the silver-haired man as they run up the stairs then Demon gives a slight nod. Tseng then speaks softly to Elena wouldn't hear, "Just between you and me, she gets these unwanted 'fantasies' about me, and she could be a pain in the butt sometimes." Elena watches Tseng and Demon and thinks to herself, _I hope they're not talking about me. _Demon chuckles slightly as Tseng informs the silver-haired Turk about what Reno told him. Afterwards, Demon tells Tseng that he didn't know about the lycan attacks when he got to the building and also told him that the wounds he got was from trying to knock Aerith, who was in lycan form, unconscious.

By the time they've finished their conversation, the Turks made it to the 60th floor finally. They go into the room, all panting a bit. Tseng then looks at the unconscious Aerith, checking her condition, then looks at Demon, seeming to become suspicious about his story. He rememebers the silver-haired Turk never coming to work on nights during a full moon. Why would he come to the building now? Tseng then shakes his head slightly, wanting to forget his suspicions until after they've reached Rufus's office, and turns his attention back to Aerith. _She does look like her. _He thought to himself and asks Demon, "Will she able to pull through by the time we get to the President?"

Demon shrugs slightly and answers, "I'm not sure. She has lost a good amount of blood."

"Let's take care of her first. She needs a blood transfusion ASAP."

Reno raises his hand and interrupts, "Um Tseng...We don't have the equipment for that, remember? Rufus used the money for that stuff on that dumb feline's vet bills. So how are we gonna give her blood?"

Moments later...Rufus holds his gun close and takes a deep breath. _Alright, here I go. _He thought to himself as he jumps out from hiding behind his desk and looks around the room, noticing blood and claws marks all over the place. _Man, this place looks like something a tornado just hit. _He thought. _I don't hear either of the lycans anywhere._ He looks through the window, noticing that the sun has already risen. Figuring that it's safe to leave the room, Rufus makes his way downstairs as Hojo seemed to have fallen asleep behind the desk, sucking his thumb. As Rufus goes downstairs, he hears something coming his way and holds his gun as he slowly takes a few more steps down. Then all of a sudden, he spots Dark Nation when he got downstairs.

"Master Rufus!" Dark Nation called out as he runs over to his master. Rufus, letting out a sigh of relief, lowers his weapon. "Dark Nation?" He asked as he squats down and hugs his faithful pet. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at the vet."

"I'm sorry, Master, but I have to come back. I was afraid that you were in danger."

Rufus gives a smile and responds as he pets Dark Nation, "I'm glad that you did come back actually."

Dark Nation gives a nod and says, "I've brought company." He then looks behind him. Rufus then looks at the direction Dark Nation was looking at and by his surprise, Cloud, Barret, and Tifa are standing before him.


	8. The Unusual Method of Blood Transfer

**Looking better and better, eh?**

**Rinoa: -pops in out of nowhere- Hey, I like it so far. Again, yes, I'm the one with the dog that went to the vet when Rufus dropped off that odd looking cat of his.**

**Rufus: -walks in- Hey now! Dark Nation is a special feline so pick at him. He's unique. -looks at the audience- Alright you guys. As a reminder, the author doesn't own Final Fantasy VII, Rinoa from Final Fantasy VIII (even though she was off camera and still is), Sayonara wa Iwanai (the ending song to Yu Yu Hakusho: Poltergiest Report), and Saiyuki (even though that's mentioned) **

**Rinoa: I hope you guys enjoy this revised chapter!**

**Thanks guys. Please read and give some me reviews, okay? -winks-**

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AERITH...THE REINCARNATION OF AERIS?

PART VIII

THE UNUSUAL METHOD OF BLOOD TRANSFER

Rufus looks at the trio standing before him as he stopped petting his faithful pet, Dark Nation. "Well, well, look what the cat dragged in," he said with a grin on his face as he stands up. "My favorite trio from AVALANCHE." Dark Nation looks up at his master then slightly bows his head as he speaks, "Please forgive me, Master. I thought I would need their assistance if you were in grave danger." Rufus looks at Dark Nation with a smile and pats his loyal pet's head. "No need to apologize, my faithful pet. I have business with them anyways." He said as he turns his attention back to the trio with a slight calm look on his face.

Cloud gives a slight glare at Rufus as he was about to draw his sword, but then Tifa gently places her hand on his shoulder and shakes her head slightly. Cloud looks at Tifa and gives a sigh as he moves his hand away from the hilt of his sword. Barret grumbles about wanting to kick Rufus's butt as Cloud looks at Rufus and asks, "Where is Aerith, Rufus?"

"Ah, the girl..." He responded as he rubs his chin. "I don't know."

"Don't play games with me, Rufus! Where is she!?" Cloud snapped, knowing that Rufus had already seen Aerith as a lycan, but wasn't sure if he caused any damage to her. He wanted to make Rufus pay for kidnapped his adopted daughter, but decides to keep himself calm as Tifa looks at Rufus with a concerned look on her face and says, "Please, tell us where she is now." She slightly bites her bottom lip, hoping the conversation won't turn into a fight, especially if Cloud finds out if the ShinRa has done something to Aerith. Dark Nation watches the trio as he stands near his master, ready to step in to protect him in case a fight does happen.

Rufus gives a sigh before answering, "Look, I don't know where she is now. I was hiding in my office for the most part." He then yawns slightly, having been hiding behind his desk all night was making him want to fall asleep, but then fights off the urge of wanting to go to sleep. He didn't want to risk having the lycans attack him during his sleep and now hopes that his conversation with AVALANCHE won't turn into a fight, especially since he is too fatigued. The trio watches Rufus lean slightly against a wall then Cloud and Tifa look at each other, now definitely knowing that Aerith have indeed transformed, and also noted Rufus's look of fatigue. Cloud then asks Rufus, "Who else was with you?"

"It was me, Reno, Rude, and Hojo."

Cloud's eyes suddenly widen at the mention of Hojo's name. Now he was really ticked off, knowing that if Hojo had his hands on Aerith, he'll use her as his guinea pig. That was the last thing Cloud needed, finding out his adopted daughter was experimented on by that psycho of a scientist. "What did Hojo do to her!?" He snapped again then all of a sudden a ringtone of "Sayonara wa Iwanai" goes off from Rufus's cellphone just as the President was about to answer Cloud's question. _I didn't know he's seen Poltergiest Report_, Cloud thought to himself as he blinks while hearing the ringtone and Tifa and Barret gave Rufus funny looks.

Rufus then picks up his cellphone and looks at the trio, noting the funny looks they're making, then he raises an eyebrow as if wanting to ask them if they ever watched anime before. "What? I like anime. Gotta problem with it?" He asked before answering his phone while Barret makes a fist, trying to keep himself under control and fighting the urge of wanting to kick Rufus's butt. "Hello?" Tifa gives a sigh as she tries to help Barret stay calm while Cloud examines the area carefully. Then all of a sudden, they could hear yelling coming from Rufus's phone. "_RUUUUUUFFFUUUSSS! We're under distress! _" Reno yelled out as the trio quickly turned their attention to Rufus.

"Calm down, Reno." Rufus said. "Tell me what's going on."

The red-haired Turk began to explain what went on from when he left the office earlier to when he met up with Tseng and Elena. "_I encountered Tseng and Elena after taking the elevator to the first floor then our fearless leader here_," He said as he glares at Tseng. "_decided to go up the stinkin' stairway just to get to the 60th floor and also Demon decided to show up as well._" Rufus gives a slight chuckle about the Turks having to run up the stairway from the 1st floor all the way to the 60th floor then all of a sudden, a smack is heard through Rufus's phone. It was Elena smacking Reno upside the head and fusses about not to glare at Tseng. Rufus rolls his eyes then asks, "What about the lycans? Have you seen them at all?"

Reno sticks his tongue out at Elena as he heard Rufus's question then answers, "_Well...We haven't found the black one at all. As for the girl, Demon found her...And ShinRa HQ, we have a problem and that problem is that the girl has loss alot of blood and needs a blood transfusion._"

"Demon's here too?" Rufus asked, knowing that it was highly unusual for the silver-haired Turk to show up at this time, but then shakes his head slightly when he heard the news about Aerith's condition. "Reno, you know that we don't have the equipment for a blood transfer. I was too busy paying Dark Nation's vet bills." Reno then grumbles about that he said the same thing to Tseng, Elena, and Demon, but Tseng then takes Reno's cellphone and speaks, "Mr. President? This is Tseng. I hate to say it, but the girl needs a blood transfer now. She won't last much longer if we wait to get the equipment." He tells Rufus that he and the other are almost at the office, then he decides to push the button the phone and all of a sudden, a large visual screen projects from the cellphone, showing Rufus, Tifa, Cloud, Barret, and Dark Nation at their current location.

Tifa looks at the screen before her eyes widen as she sees the wounded Aerith in Demon's arms while Cloud's eyes widen as well. Tifa examines the silver-haired Turk, wondering if he was the one Aerith mentioned about before she got kidnapped. Cloud gives a slight glare at Demon, not too trusting with having his adopted daughter under a strange Turk's care. _There's something about that guy that seems familiar, but where? _He thought to himself. _Who is this guy? He's not Sephiroth that's for sure._ After a few seconds, Tifa points to Demon and asks, "Excuse me, are you the one Aerith encountered in the forest?"

Demon grins, seeming to not pay any attention to Tifa's question, and turns his attention to Cloud, "So you must be the girl's guardian correct?" Cloud then gives a nod as a response, but is more worried on how to save his adopted daughter's life. He doesn't want to lose her, but he knows that the ShinRa doesn't have the equipment for a blood transfusion. There must be a way to save her, but how? Cloud ponders on finding a method to save her. Suddenly, something clicks in his mind then snaps his fingers, breaking the silence that was filling the area. "I have an idea, but I'm not sure if it's going to work. I've seen this scene in an anime I've watched a long time ago where a Goddess used a certain 'method' on giving some guy blood." He said, not much liking the idea, but it was the only option unless someone else had something in mind. Though the question was who is willing to give Aerith blood and would they have enough blood for her to survive? The Turks give Cloud a funny look, surprised that he watches anime as well.

"That's not good enough. What do you mean a certain 'method'? There are lots of anime, and I don't know which one you're talking about." Reno said as his eye twitches.

At that moment, Demon looks at Cloud, knowing what he was talking about. He knew that it would be an opportunity to win Cloud's trust if he manages to save Aerith's life as well as he being the only one who has plenty of blood to spare. When he was about to volunteer himself, Rufus interrupts by speaking to Cloud. "Please forgive me. Let me introduce you to Demon. He's the newest member of the Turks." He said, chuckling over the fact that he failed to mention that sooner.

Cloud asks, "Demon?"

"That's his alias name, but we don't have a clue as to what his real name is. He would never tell us unfortunately. Really a mysterious type..."

Cloud gives a nod then looks at Demon, noting that he was trying to get his attention. "What is it?"

"I know what method you're talking about, sir. Please allow me to give your daughter the blood she needs."

"Are you sure? You might get dizzy."

Demon kneels down and holds the unconscious Aerith close to him. "I can handle it." He said as he places his hand behind her head. Reno and Elena watched with confused looks on their faces as Elena eats the Snickers bar Reno gave her earlier. _I wonder what he's gonna do. _She thought to herself as she finishes her chocolate bar. _Just as long Tseng isn't involved, he's good. _At that moment, Demon starts to give Aerith blood...mouth to mouth. Reno and Elena dropped their jaws in shock as Tseng raises an eyebrow and Rufus blinks in confusion while they watched Demon. Cloud, not liking what he's seeing, closes his eyes and turns his head away. He knew that Demon was just trying to save her life, but sometimes his protectiveness over his adoptive daughter gets the better of him. Tifa looks at Cloud and places her hand on his shoulder while trying to let him know that everything will be okay. Barret raises an eyebrow as he watches Demon while thinking he must be a fool to pull something like that.

"HEY! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" Reno shouted to Demon with a gonk look on his face. "HOW CAN YOU ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING JUST BY KISSING HER!? DUDE, THAT'S HARRASSMENT!" Elena thinks the same thing while she was watching as well. _Reno does have a point._ She thought to herself. _He's just kissing her, but how's that gonna help? Unless of if he's... _Her face suddenly turns green as she covers her mouth. "I think I'm gonna puke," She said as Reno hands her a barf bag. "Use this so you won't barf on me." Reno responded then Elena grabs the bag from the red-haired Turk and takes off with it. Reno looks back at Demon then his eye twitches as he thinks to himself, _How does he know if she's his type? He's gonna kill the poor girl with all that kissing. _With that, Demon was finally finished donating his blood to Aerith then pulls away while breathing heavily. He was successful on giving her blood, but he knew that there was something else wrong with her.

Tseng walks over to the silver-haired Turk, amazed that he was able to pull something like that off without going into a coma. "Are you alright?" He asked then he looks at the unconscious Aerith, noticing that she was no longer as pale as she was earlier. He gives a slight sigh of relief and looks to Cloud and everyone else, letting them know that the blood donation worked. He then holds his hand out to Demon to help him stand.

"I'll be fine, Tseng." Demon responded while breathing heavily. He then takes Tseng's hand as he slowly stands up then he notes Tseng's concern about Aerith before turning his attention to Cloud. "Your daughter will live...for the moment." He said while moving a bit of Aerith's hair from her face then Reno gives Demon a funny look after hearing what he said. "You mean to tell us that she's still gonna die after all that kissing!?" Reno snapped.

Tseng then palms his forehead with a sigh and says, "Reno, that wasn't a kiss."

"Oh yeah it was!"

"No, it was not."

"Tseng, I know a kiss when I see a kiss and that was a kiss."

"Sometimes I just want to knock you upside the head." Tseng with a sigh.

Reno responds with a grin, "Why don't you? You scared of the High and Mighty Reno of the Turks?"

All of a sudden, Tseng smacks Reno upside, which apparently answered the "High and Mighty" Reno of the Turks's question. Reno grumbles as he rubs his head while Tseng glances back at the unconscious Aerith, who is now breathing slightly. He then takes Aerith from Demon, knowing that he wouldn't have the strength to hold her. _It's like I'm seeing Aeris all over again. _He thought to himself. _She looks okay, but she's dying. I can remember when Sephiroth got me a long time ago...She was crying...Aeris was crying, although I was after her. _He turns his attention back to Demon and says, "I'll hold on to her since you don't have enough strength at the moment."

Demon just gives a slight grin on his face to Tseng and responds, "I appreciate your help, but I think it would be better if I held on to her a little longer."

"Yeah, he wants to hold her more so he can kiss her more," Reno interrupted while getting a wierd look from Cloud. He himself doesn't like what Demon's planning, but he knows that he owes the silver-haired Turk for trying to save Aerith. He shakes his head as he glances at Demon and says, "You said that Aerith is going to live for the moment, right? Tell me, what is wrong with her?"

Demon looks to Cloud and responds, "Her body is weak from the overexposure to mako. It made her unable to control herself in lycan form." Cloud gives a nod, knowing that her condition was getting worse from the mako poisoning. It was slowly killing her, but it doesn't stop him from trying to find a way to save her. "Alright, try to meet us at Rufus's office," Cloud said to Demon. "We'll talk more later." Everyone else gives a nod before Rufus finally shuts off the visual and hangs up his phone and looks at the trio and Dark Nation, motioning them to follow him to the office. Team AVALANCHE and Dark Nation started to make their way upstairs to the office. Cloud looks down to the stairs as he slowly follows the group, but Tifa stops as she notes his concern. "Is everything alright, Cloud?" She asked?

He stops walking then responds, "Sorry..." He looks up to Tifa with a worried look on his face. "I'm just worried about Aerith." Tifa frowns a bit as she places her hand on Cloud's shoulder, wanting to tell him that she'll be okay, but even she knows about her condition. Tears begin to roll down Cloud's cheeks as he speaks softly, "I don't want to lose her, Tifa...just like we lost Aeris...She died because I wasn't there to protect her...and to be there for her." He then gently hugs Tifa and holds the hug as he slightly tightens it. "I will not fail again...I will not let Aerith die..."


	9. Attack of The…Coffee Machine?

**NOTE: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or the voices of Darth Vader and Yoda.**

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AERITH...THE REINCARNATION OF AERIS?

PART IX

ATTACK OF THE...COFFEE MACHINE?

Tifa continues to give Cloud some comfort, reassuring him that Aerith will be fine. She knows in her heart that they'll find a way to save her, and hates to see Cloud even more devastated than he was when Sephiroth killed Aeris years ago. She and Cloud were the closest people to parents Aerith would ever have until they find her real family. After that little moment, Barret walks over to Cloud and places his hand on Cloud's shoulder. "Come on, man. If she has guts like Aeris does, then I'm sure she'll be fine." Barret said with a smile. Cloud looks at Barret and Tifa then gives a nod with a slight grin before they continue making their way upstairs to Rufus's office. Once they got upstairs, they were shocked to see the office in a total mess. There was stuff all over the place, claw marks on the walls as well as blood stains on the floor and on the walls.

Rufus gives a sigh as he looks around his office then he looks at the group. "Sorry about the mess," he said while walking over to his desk. "This was where the lycans were fighting each other." He looks behind the desk, noticing that Hojo was no longer there and neither was Rude. Rufus scratches his head slightly, wondering where those two have gone to. Cloud examines the blood stains and claw marks on the walls. "It must have been one intensive fight." He said then turns his attention to Rufus and asks, "Did Hojo do something to Aerith before the incident?" Rufus then shakes his head in response to Cloud's question, even he wasn't sure on what Hojo's intensions for the girl were, and says, "Nothing that I know of." As they were talking, Dark Nation walks downstairs as if checking out the damage that has been done to the building since he knows his master is in no real danger.

Meanwhile...The Turks were making their way to Rufus's, finally reaching the 66th floor, which leads to the Conference Room. Reno pants slightly as they head upstairs to reach the 70th floor. _Man, I still can't believe that he actually kissed her. _He thought to himself. _That image is gonna haunt me for weeks...or even months._ All of a sudden, Tseng taps the red-haired Turk's shoulder to get his attention, but resulted with him screaming like a girl as he got startled. Elena suddenly busts out laughing and points her finger at Reno. "That is so funny!" She exclaimed. "Reno just screamed like a girl!" Tseng laughs as well while Reno grumbles about he'll get his revenge. After Tseng has settled down, he turns his attention to both Elena and Reno, and asks, "Elena, will you and Reno get me some coffee from the coffee machine?"

Elena suddenly stops laughing when she heard him then pouts, "Tseng! The coffee machine is at the first floor, and we're like almost at the top floor!"

"Ever heard of an elevator? Use it."

Elena groans as she thinks to herself, _Why does it have to be Reno that comes along with me just to get Tseng some coffee? Of all Turks, why him? Why can't it be Demon, Rude, or Tseng himself?_ She pouts more then asks Tseng, "Why can't Demon go with me instead of Reno?"

"Elena, he just gave some of his blood to the girl. Don't you think he might be a little weak from doing that?"

"He was able to stand up while still holding the girl before you took her."

"Will you two just go get me some coffee before I get a temper tantrum?" He said with a sigh as he rubs his temples. Elena grumbles as she starts to head over to an elevator along with Reno, whom she didn't want to be with. Reno snickers as he follows the blonde Turk to the elevator before getting a dirty look from her. "Let's get something straight, Red-head," She said with an annoyed tone in her voice. "You better not do anything stupid."

Reno chuckles as he waves his hand dismissively and he responds, "Whatever you say, Miss Prissy-Pants." Elena gives a slight growl, wanting to beat the tar out of Reno. They both threw insults and arguments at each other the whole time from when they got into the elevator until they finally reached the first floor. Reno spots the coffee machine as he and Elena stepped out of the elevator. As Reno walks over to the coffee machine, Elena grabs him by the back of his blue jacket and pulls him back with a dirty look on her face. "Hey! What's the big idea!?" Reno snapped with an angered look on his face.

"Since I'm Tseng's right hand person," Elena responded. "I'll be the one who gets the coffee."

"Man, you're so rude...like Rude!"

"I don't care! You'll probably poison the coffee if I allowed you to get it!"

Reno gives a dirty look at Elena as she walks over to the coffee machine and he grumbles about who died and made her queen of the universe. He starts to mimic the words she just said while making a funny look behind her back. Elena tries to get some coffee from the coffee machine, but there was a problem...The coffee machine didn't seem to work and Elena grumbles about why the dumb thing wasn't working while Reno watches her then laughs. The blonde Turk then looks at Reno with a mean look. "What are you laughing at?" She asked with an irritated tone in her voice.

Reno laughs again then responds, "I think you don't know how to work that thing."

"Alright, Mr. Smarty-Pants, how about you work it then?"

"Fine, I will, Miss Pain-In-The-Butt!" Reno chuckles as he walks over to the coffee machine and reaches into his pocket to pull out some coins. He then puts the required amount of coins into the coffee machine, and all of a sudden, the machine starts to speak in a raspy voice, "Kind of coffee, would you like?" Elena makes a wierd look at the machine as her eye twitches. _Oh great!_ She thought to herself. _The machine talks like Yoda!_ Just as Reno was about tell the machine what flavor coffee would he want to get for Tseng, Elena kicks the coffee machine while yelling, "Stupid piece of junk!" Then all of a sudden, the machine starts to speak like Darth Vader to Elena, "Don't make me want to destroy you!" Elena rolls her eyes at the coffee, thinking that it wouldn't do anything since it's just a coffee machine.

All of a sudden, the machine starts to grow out robotic arms and legs then it pulls out a red light-saber. Reno sighs then smacks Elena upside the head. "Look what you did!" He yelled. "Now the coffee machine wants to battle us!" Elena grumbles about how was she supposed to know the simple machine like that would act like a transformer with the voice of Darth Vader. She and Reno then prepare to fight the coffee machine.

Meanwhile...Cloud, Barret, and Tifa helped Rufus clean up his office. Rufus gives a sigh as he picks up some stuff. "Man, they've really trashed the place." He said then glances over to Cloud. "Why didn't you tell me that you adopted a lycan?" Cloud gives a slight glare to Rufus. It wasn't his business to know what Cloud does or doesn't do, but Rufus notes the protective look in Cloud's eyes. He had a reason to hide the fact that Aerith was a lycan so that others wouldn't treat her like she was a monster. "It wasn't any of your concern, Rufus," He said. "but what was the big idea of kidnapping her in the first place?"

"It was Hojo's idea, not mine. You have to speak to him about it."

"Believe me, I will. If I find out he has done something to her, I'll have him regret him ever laying a finger on my daughter!" Cloud snapped, not liking the fact that all of this was Hojo's doing. He had always hated that scientist, who was the master of ruining everyone's lives. Cloud himself was among those who became a test subject with having Jenova cells injected into him, and was also inflicted with Geostigma. If Hojo has indeed done the same thing to Aerith like he did to him, He would really make him pay. He clenches his fist as Tseng, who was now holding Aerith, and Demon walk into the office.

"Well, Rufus. At least you didn't become a casualty." Tseng said as looks around the room with a surprised look on his face when he notices the blood and claw marks on the walls.

"Yeah..." Rufus responded with a nod. "It was pretty scary, especially when there were TWO lycans in my office."

"We didn't have any problems like this before. We kept the windows closed at night."

"We did hear some howling and growling, then Reno, who just had to be stupid, opens the window. All of a sudden this black lycan shows up at the window. As we were attacking the creature, we find out that the girl was a lycan as well."

Tseng gives a sigh and asks, "Why did Reno opened the window when he knew that werewolves howl at the full moon?"

Cloud, now curious about the black lycan Rufus mention, interrupts Rufus when he was about to answer Tseng, "That black lycan...Did it happen to have blood red eyes by any chance?" He wanted to be sure if it's the same he encountered 10 years ago or not. Though he had a feeling that it might not be a coincidence, and wonders why would it show itself now after all those years. Was it after Aerith? It was possible, otherwise why else would it attack the ShinRa building? Was it to come after Rufus or maybe Hojo? Rufus looks at Cloud, noting his curiousity, and nods in response to his question. Cloud then explains to Rufus about the lycan he encountered a long time ago. Tseng then rubs his chin as he listened to the conversation then speaks to Cloud, "By the way this sounds, this lycan could be one who bit the girl. Though I'm not too sure since I wasn't there when the creature showed up." He then looks at Demon, who still seems to be panting slightly, as his suspicion grows even more.

This black lycan shows up then Demon shows up later on. Tseng ponders deep into the thought of being a connection between Demon and the black lycan. He knew that Demon never shows up during nights of a full moon and nevers shows up early the next morning. He soon snaps out of his thoughts when he could smell the scent of coffee in the air as Reno and Elena, slightly beaten up and with some coffee. Elena walks over to Tseng and gives him the cup of coffee while grumbling how evil the coffee machine was. Tseng takes the cup as he speaks to Elena, "It took you long enough."

Elena responds as she bows her head in shame, "Forgive me, Tseng. We had trouble with the coffee machine." Tseng blinks in confusion, but then starts to laugh as well as Reno does then Elena looks at the two in confusion and asks, "What's so funny?"

"Did you happen to use the coffee machine that talks like Darth Vader when you threaten it?" He asked, still laughing.

"Yeah, that thing's the meanest piece of junk I've ever seen."

"All you had to do was to say the password."

"Huh? What password? Reno didn't tell me anything about a password."

Reno and Tseng bust out laughing even more as Elena, feeling dumbfounded, thinks to herself, _Those two are so mean._ She walks over to a corner and huddles near it as a purple haze floats above her. Cloud and the other also laughed at that little moment. Tseng then walks over to Cloud to let him hold Aerith, wanting for him to now hold his adopted daughter. He then walks over to a chair and sits down on it before sipping on his coffee. Cloud holds Aerith close to him protectively, happy that it was him that is now holding her. Though he did have some trust with Tseng. Demon then sits down on the floor, looking at his finger, which was bleeding from pricking it with the rose earlier. He then grins slightly then licks the blood as Reno gives him a funny look. "Ewww...That was uncalled for, man." Reno said.

"Got a problem, my red-haired friend?" Demon asked.

"Yeah! You're the weirdest Turk I've ever known!"

"Oh? And how's that?"

"First off, you have silver hair and blood red eyes, which doesn't mix at all unless if that's your poor cosplay look. Secondly, you don't show up for work at night, especially meeting nights. Thirdly, you show up, all beaten like you got into a fight with a piece of a glass, after the black lycan seem to have disappeared. Fourthly, you kissed a girl, who also happens to be a lycan, to 'give' her blood when you don't even know if she's your type. Fifthly, you licked your own blood from your finger! Nasty!"

Demon gives a shrug then all of a sudden, Dark Nation walks back in. "Master," the creature said as he stands in front of Rufus. "I've found someone." Rufus turns his attention to his faithful pet and kneels. "Really? Who is it?" He asked.


	10. The Dogs of the Military

**And this is where the cross-overs begin.**

**NOTE: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, Fullmetal Alchemist, or Miyoko Mustang/Twilight Alchemist (whom belongs to my sister. )**

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AERITH...THE REINCARNATION OF AERIS?

PART X

THE DOGS OF THE MILITARY

"Would you bring whoever you found over here?" Rufus asked to Dark Nation. His faithful pet gives a nod and leaves the room as Reno tells Tseng how wierd Demon is, saying the same thing that he told Demon in the last chapter. Tseng just takes a sip of his coffee, keeping his suspicions about Demon to himself, then he looks around the room. Barret seems to be nodding off to sleep while silence fills the room. Everyone else seem to be nodding off to sleep as well, but some tried to fight it off due to staying up all night. After a while, a certain hippie scientist shows up, all scratched up and bruised like he got beaten up by everybody that hates him so much that they want him to pay dearly for ruining their lives.

He looks around the room, noting everyone almost falling asleep, except for Tseng and Elena. Tseng raises an eyebrow at the condition Hojo is in, but the scientist gives a nod in greeting and Tseng goes back to sipping his coffee after he nods back in response. Hojo then spots the slightly weakened Demon, noting the wounds he got. _Isn't this rich? _He thought to himself. _The black lycan got wounded at the same spots. _He chuckles in his mind on the fact that he failed to see the connection sooner. As Hojo was about to speak to the silver-haired Turk, Cloud snaps at the scientist with a dirty look in his face, "Hojo! If you did anything to he-"

Hojo cuts Cloud off with a calm look on his face as he holds his hands up in defense, "Now, now. We don't need this type of behavior. I haven't done anything to the girl. All I've done was examine her, though I wish I've known that she's a lycan sooner."

"It was better not to tell anyone about it, and it was none of your concern anyways."

"What's the use of protecting her, Cloud? Either way, she is still dying from mako poisoning."

"I will find a way to save her, even if it means the cost of my own life."

"How touching...You know not many people are very fond of lycans. You can't keep hiding her from what she is forever."

As Cloud argues with Hojo, Demon looks at the unconscious Aerith as he ponders on a way to save her. _I was able to remove some of the mako from her body, but it was not enough_, he thought to himself as he then looks at his hands. _As for me, I can't stay in this human body for long because of it...wait...there may be a chance._ At that moment, he glances over to Cloud then interrupts, "Forgive the interruption, Cloud. I think there is a chance to save her afterall." Tseng, as well as everyone else, turns his attention to Demon as Cloud asks out of curiosity, "Really? How?"

"...It will cost her humanity to save her."

"Anything to save her...just name it."

"...She's going to have to become...a demon."

Reno suddenly gives a shocked look at both Cloud and Demon, getting the thought that it might be Demon's poor excuse to kiss Aerith again. Tseng and the others watch Cloud with interest as the spikey-haired man walks over to Hojo. Determined to save his adopted daughter, he snatches a syringe that seem to contain blood from Hojo's pocket. "Hey! Put that down!" Hojo snapped, knowing what the syringe contained. It indeed contains the blood of a demon, but all Cloud wants was to save Aerith no matter the cost. "Shut up, you demented, psychopathic, 4-eyed, lunatic, hippie scientist!" Cloud snapped as walks toward Aerith, who was now in Tifa's arms, and sticks the needle into her arm, injecting the demon blood.

Hojo watches as he shakes his head. "You do realize that if you make her into a demon, she will despise humanity and think of us as inferior creatures. Not only that, she'll transform into a lycan more frequently, full moon or not." Cloud, not paying any attention to Hojo, finishes injecting the blood into Aerith and tosses the needle in the garbage. A soft moan escapes Aerith's throat, but she doesn't open her eyes. Cloud looks at her with a gentle smile, hoping what he did was the right thing. He knew that if Aerith becomes a demon, she wouldn't have to worry about the excess mako and also not worry about dying of old age. Aerith continues to rest in Tifa's arms, breathing shallowly.

At that moment, Dark Nation returns to the office along with Rude. Rufus gives a nod to Rude, noticing that no damage has been done to him, but wasn't prepared to see two military men walk into the office after Dark Nation and Rude. One had the rank of Colonel while the other had the rank of Lieuntenant Colonel. The Colonel had black hair and black eyes, wearing white gloves with a strange red symbol embedded on them. However, the Lt. Colonel also has black hair, but has dark yellow eyes and wears glasses. Rufus, even though he himself was feeling fatigued from staying up all night, walks up toward the two military men while keeping his posture. "Greetings," He said in greeting. "I am Rufus Shinra, the President of ShinRa Inc."

Just as the Colonel was about to speak, Reno butts in with a grin, "Welcome to ShinRa HQ! Home of the Turks! Can I take your order?"

"RENO!" Rufus snapped then palms his forehead. "This is coming out of your paycheck!"

"Fine, be that way! I don't like you either!" Reno grumbles as he walks off while the other Turks shake their heads. Tseng gives another sigh then takes a sip of his coffee, now wondering how today is going to go by this time, but then he turns his attention to the two military men.

"I am Colonel Roy Mustang of the Amestris State Military, also known as 'The Flame Alchemist'," The Colonel said in greeting to Rufus then he gestures to the Lt. Colonel. "and this is Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes of the Investigations Department."

"I'm glad you're here to take care of this mess," Rufus responded, but then he scratches his head. "though I don't remember calling the military for investigations."

Hughes glances to Roy, who gives a nod to the Lt. Colonel, then glances over to Rufus and speaks, "We have heard about the rumors about demons suddenly appearing. We wanted to go a bit deeper from what we've found out 3 years ago. Before we get into more detail." He pulls out a photo of a little girl and shoves it at Rufus's face. "This is my daughter, Elysia! Isn't she so cuuute!? One look at her happy face and all fatigue just fade away, doesn't it!?"

Rufus makes a funny look then blinks a bit as he wonders why Hughes shoved a photo of his daughter in front of his face like that. Roy, watching this little moment, palms his forehead. _He's at it again_, he thought to himself. _Doesn't he realize that some of us have real work to do? _He sighs then spots a cat nearby. The cat mews softly as it walks towards Roy as he kneels in front of it. "Hello, little guy," Roy said to the cat. "Where did you come from?" The cat mews again then jumps up on Roy's head as a purr escapes its throat. All of a sudden, a "Rewrite" ringtone goes off from his cellphone. Roy gives a sigh before answering it.

"_Hey, Colonel! I've got a bone to pick with you! _" A voice of a young male yelled out from the phone.

"What is it this time, Fullmetal?" Roy asked as he walks off somewhere with that cat still on his head. Tseng finally finishes his coffee after he watched Roy walk off while talking on his cellphone. He then decides to pull out his cellphone and starts to call someone. Elena watches Tseng, curious as to who he was calling, as Hughes apologizes to Tifa and Cloud about the limited number of men due to the fact another investigation was going on as well. Tifa asks the Lt. Colonel, "What other investigation are you doing?"

There was a long pause then Hughes pulls his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He gives an explanation that the military sent two people to Midgar 3 years ago to investigate on what was the source of the demons suddenly appearing. Among the two was a young girl named Miyoko Mustang. She was adopted by Roy Mustang and became a state alchemist by the age of twelve, given the alias "The Twilight Alchemist". Midgar was used to having alchemists come by and help with rebuilting the city as well as helping plantlife grow. Aerith had met the girl during her stay at Midgar, and was able to learn a little bit of alchemy from her. Aerith wanted to help Midgar have more plantlife rather than just having a garden at Sector 5 and the flowers that she was recently growing at in a church. She was growing interested on learning more on alchemy, but then it wasn't too long until she heard the news about Miyoko's death. She was devastated to learn that a new friend, who was like a sister to her, was killed by a serial killer.

Tifa then frowns as she remembers Miyoko, feeling bad for Aerith losing a friend like her. She also remembers on that day when the news of Miyoko's death spread, Cloud told her that he found Aerith unconscious near Miyoko's body and was coughing violently. He had to take the unconscious Aerith to a hospital at a nearby town. Tifa wasn't sure what had happened that day, but snaps out of her thoughts. Hughes then tells her about the investigation involving the search for a chimera. Roy then returns, apparently have finished his conversation with the person he called "Fullmetal", and glances over to Rufus. "We've heard that two lycans attacked this building. Is this correct?"

Cloud looks at the unconscious Aerith, then just as Rufus was about to answer, Cloud responds as he looks to Roy, "Yes...this girl is one of them."

Roy gives a nod as he examines Aerith before turning his attention back to Cloud. "Do you know who is the other lycan?"

Suddenly, Reno butts into the conversation, "YEAH! IT'S RUDE!" Rude gives a dirty look at Reno as Elena smacks him upside the head. The red-haired Turk grumbles as he rubs his head before walking off once again. Cloud then starts to explain to Roy about his first encounter with the black lycan and how he found Aerith. Finally after a long while, Aerith stirs a bit before she slowly opens her eyes. Tifa then looks at Aerith with a smile, happy to know that she's okay, and sets her down on her feet. "Are you okay?" She asked.

Aerith looks at Tifa and gives a gentle nod. "Yes...I'm okay, but I feel so strange." She responded, her legs feeling a bit wobbily. Cloud then walks over to Aerith and gives her a gentle hug, glad to see that she was finally awake, then looks at Hughes and Roy, letting them know that they need to take Aerith home. Both men give a nod of agreement as Cloud looks at his adopted daughter. "Come, I'll take you home." He said as he takes Aerith's hand. Aerith nods and clings to his arm, not wanting to be separated from him again, as they walk out of the office along with Tifa. Hughes then looks at the Colonel, wondering about the conversation from his cellphone was all about. Roy just gives a slight shrug, telling Hughes that it wasn't really anything important.

After watching Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith leave, Rufus turns his attention to Roy. "I overheard Mr. Hughes's conversation with Tifa. What is this chimera you're searching for?"

"..." Roy gives a sigh before taking a deep breath then responds, "This chimera is part homunculus and part demon. We've been searching for her after hearing reports about her roaming around somewhere. Also we believe that someone have attempted human transmutation days after Twilight's death."

Elena blinks in confusion as she listens to the conversation. "Ummm...Pardon the interruption, Mr. President, but what exactly is a homunculus?"

"Homunculi..." Demon spoke, but doesn't look at anyone as he closes his eyes. "Artificial beings created as a result of failed human transmutation. These humanoids lack a soul, but they do have various abilities such as shape-shifting, having retractable razor-like nails that can pierce through anything, the ability to turn their own bodies into water, and so on." He then slowly gets up on his feet then starts to leave the office.

"Hey!" Elena called out. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Sorry, but I have no time for interrogations." He responded as he walks out of the office, thinking that it wasn't his place to linger with them and soon Aerith wouldn't either in due time. Elena shakes her head as she watched the silver-haired Turk leave then Tseng tells Roy about each member of the Turks, including Demon. Though he hasn't told Roy about the suspicions he's been having around Demon recently. Roy then rubs his chin before petting the cat that was still on his head and asks, "Do you think that _he _could be the other lycan?"


	11. Demon’s Guests

**NOTE: I don't own Final Fantasy VII, Fullmetal Alchemist, or Yu Yu Hakusho**

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AERITH...THE REINCARNATION OF AERIS?

PART XI

DEMON'S GUESTS

Demon walks out of ShinRa HQ and looks up at the sky. I_ cannot remain here if others see my true form. _He thought to himself. _Humans think of us as monsters, and try to kill us, whether we've done anything harmful or not._ He shakes his head as he gives a sigh and walks on. He didn't want the military to interrogate him about the events that happened last night. If that were to happen, then Tseng would most likely pry the information out of him since he was highly suspicious of the silver-haired Turk. The outcome would mean that he would be taken to some laboratory for experimentation, especially if Hojo found out that he is the black lycan.

Meanwhile, Roy and Hughes continue to question Rufus, Hojo, and the Turks regarding the incident from last night. Every now and then, Roy would walk off to call either one of his subordinates or the one he called "Fullmetal" on his cellphone, either to check on their progress or to give information on the investigation he and Hughes are conducting. Even though Hughes was head of the Investigations Department, Roy wanted to come to Midgar with him due to personal matters. Though he wouldn't let his personal affairs interfere with Hughes's work. As Hughes watches Roy walk out of the office again, he couldn't help but chuckle about that small cat on the Colonel's head.

Elena leans back against a wall, pondering on the debate on the possibility of Demon being the black lycan. "So if Demon is that black lycan and came here for the girl, then why did he attack her?" She asked. Just as Rufus was about to answer, Hojo interrupts, "I believe the reason is that the excessive amount of mako in her body had caused her to become berserk, but with more bloodlust than an average lycan would have from their first transformation. You can say that he might trying to calm her down." As Hojo spoke, Reno and Tseng, who left to get more coffee, came back into the office. Reno's eye twitches when he overheard Hojo. "Wait a minute!" He yelled as he looks at the scientist with a weird look on his face. "It sure didn't look like he was trying to calm her down. We all saw them fight each other."

Hojo chuckles as he glances to Reno then responds, "Lycans are such fascinating creatures, wouldn't you say?"

"So if Mr. Mysterious is a lycan, then why did he hide that fact from us?"

Tseng takes a sip of his coffee then speaks, "If you were some creature in disguise, wouldn't you do the same thing, knowing that humans would try to kill you for what you are?"

The red-haired Turk becomes silent then gives a shrug as Tseng wonders about how Aerith acquire so much mako inside of her like that and still able hang in there, then he glances over to Hojo. "Hojo?" He asked. "I would like to ask a question." He had a feeling that Hojo seems to know something more about Demon and the black lycan more than the others. Hojo gives a slight nod in response, curious as to what the black-haired Turk had to say. Tseng takes another sip of his coffee and looks at his cup as he ask, "What do you know about Demon?" All of a sudden, everyone else then turn their attention to Tseng and Hojo.

Hojo looks around the room then pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "My my. You're as sharp as a falcon's talon, Tseng." He said as he places his hands behind his back and slightly grins, now knowing that he's been caught and now used to hiding his information any longer, especially since the military could arrest him and put him into custody. "Alright, you win. That creature was an interesting specimen, but unfortunately, he escaped my lab years ago. He has no memories of his life before he got his lycan curse." Hughes was taking notes of what Hojo just said, then at that moment, Roy comes back into the office. "Did I miss anything, Lt. Colonel?" He asked.

"Why, yes. Hojo here just gave some information regarding the black lycan." Hughes responded. "Any luck with the other investigation?"

"According to Warren Officer Falman, there were rumors that a tournament is about to take place at an island called Hanging Neck Island. What's interesting is that since the chimera is part demon, we might have some luck on trying to find her."

"But the Dark Tournament is about a few months from now, and who do you plan on sending?"

"I don't know yet, but we will out when we return to Central. For now, continue with the investigations here."

"Yes sir!"

Roy then starts to look over the notes that Hughes have written down so far as Hughes then starts shoving photos of Elysia at everyone's facing, talking about how cute she is and about having a voice of an angel. Roy gives a sigh as he pets the cat that was still on top of his head. The cat gives a soft mew before it starts purring. Out in the streets of Midgar, Demon continues to walk through the slums, getting his mind off of everything that went on from last night until now. He then suddenly stops when he spotted two figures near an abandoned building. One was a woman wearing a black dress that shows most of her busty cleavage, black gloves, and black high heel boots. She had long, black, wavy hair as well as violet eyes with slitted pupils, and a red tattoo on her chest, appearing to be a winged serpent devouring its tail. The other figure was a fat bald man who was wearing a black outfit, but seems to have a mentality of a child. "Well, well," Demon said with a grin. "What do you two want this time?"

The strange woman grins slightly then motions for him to follow her and the fat guy into the building. Once they got inside, the woman answers, "I'm just here to make sure you're doing your job." Demon gives a shrug then explains to the woman about the incident last night and about the military involved in the investigation on the matter. "Don't worry, the girl is still alive." He said as he leans his back against a wall. The woman frowns slightly from what she heard. "Yet you allow Cloud to make the girl into a demon? She won't be any use to us if we can't have her as a human sacrifice."

"I know that. Though even if she managed to survive as a human, she wouldn't be any use to you anyways since Cloud doesn't allow her to use alchemy ever since the incident 3 years ago."

"That maybe, but her knowledge could be useful to us. The sin she created has a very special case."

"What case may that be?" Demon asked as he raises an eyebrow.

"That sin is given the name, Malice. She's the 8th homunculus created."

"8th homunculus? How could she create such a sin when it's mostly been either one of the seven deadly sins?"

The woman chuckles as she answers, "The world is full of surprises. Anyways, Envy will be going to Hanging Neck Island in a few months to spy on Malice, in case that she is indeed over there when that time comes."

"And you want for her to join you?"

"That is correct. And now your job is to make sure the girl doesn't find Malice. If they do see each other, the girl would make sure Malice wouldn't become tainted and that would ruin our plans."

All of a sudden, the fat guy interrupts with a grin. "Do I get to eat her, Lust?"

"No, Gluttony," Lust said as she patted Gluttony's head. "You're on a diet."

"Awwww..." Gluttony pouted, wanting to eat someone.

"So..." Demon continued. "If she does meet with Malice, then what?"

Lust rubs Gluttony's head as she glances back to Demon then responds, "Then we might have to kill her as well as those who get in our way. And since the girl's now a demon, I have another task for you."

"And that would be?"

"Wake up her demon side...Have her crave for blood. With that bloodlust, we could probably use her in our advantage."

"It's not going to be easy though. Cloud is very protective of her and he's been watching me the whole time he saw me holding the girl while she was unconscious. He doesn't seem to trust me at all."

"Then find some way to earn his trust. The more trust you earn from him, the closer you could get to his daughter. It didn't take you very long to crave for blood when your lycan curse started to take effect."

Demon then closes his eyes, really not wanting to remember the first time it happened. All of a sudden, his human ears became black wolf ears as a black wolf tail appears. He also grew claws and fangs, but he seems to be under control of himself. "You know I don't like talking about the past." He said as he gives a slight glare at Lust. Then all of a sudden, his eyes slightly widen as he felt a sharp on his shoulders. He looks at one of his shoulders, but only sees a deep wound as if he just got shot on the shoulder. Lust grins as she wipes her fingernails, which somehow had blood on them just now. "Because it hurts, doesn't it?" She said, having to extend her razor-like fingernails at a fast pace to impale Demon's shoulders. "Take that as a warning on what would happen if you told her or anyone about our plans..." Demon just remains silent as he holds his wounded shoulder.

At the 7th Heaven, Tifa was cleaning up the tables then putting away glasses as Cloud enters the bar. Tifa tells Cloud that Aerith went to her room moments ago after they have gotten home. Tifa then walks over to Cloud and wraps her arms around him, giving a smile that is telling him that she told him that everything was going to be okay. Though the question remains on what would become of Aerith now that she has demon blood injected into her. How would they prevent her from demanding human blood? What type of demon would she be? Cloud hopes that Aerith's new transformation wouldn't change her completely.

Aerith lays on her bed in her room, flat on her back. _Why do I feel so strange?_ She thought to herself as she stares at the ceiling. _It feels like that I'm becoming less and less human._ She then gets up from her bed, and walks over towards a mirror. _Nothing has changed_, she thought as she looks at her reflection. _I don't see anything unusual. Maybe my mind is playing tricks on me._ All of a sudden, her reflection suddenly changes into a woman with green eyes and long brown hair, wearing a pink dress with a red jacket. Aerith's eyes widen at the sudden change and jumps back from the mirror. She could feel her heart pounding inside of her chest. The mysterious woman looks at Aerith with a smile on her face. "Don't be afraid, young one," she said with a soft and gentle tone in her voice. "I mean you no harm."

Aerith gulps a bit, still feeling her heart pounding as she slowly walks back toward the mirror. "Who...Who are you?"


	12. Aeris’s Reincarnation

**NOTE: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, Fullmetal Alchemist, Yu Yu Hakusho, or Miyoko Mustang/Malice (who belongs to my sister as well as being off camera.)**

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AERITH...THE REINCARNATION OF AERIS?

PART XII

AERIS'S REINCARNATION

"My name is...Aeris." The strange woman said with a gentle smile on her face. Aerith's eyes slightly widen when she heard the name, remembering Cloud had told her about a woman named Aeris and how much she resembled her. She also remembers Cloud telling how important Aeris was to him, but she would frown whenever she sees her adoptive father became depressed from mentioning Aeris. Aerith bites her bottom lip as she looks down to the floor, thinking about how Cloud might've been happier if Aeris was still alive, but then she shakes her head and turns her attention back to Aeris. "So you're the one daddy told me about?"

"That's right." Aeris said with a nod.

"I'm sorry about your death...I bet daddy was happy when you were still alive."

"But he is still happy."

Aerith tilts her head slightly with a look of confusion in her face and she asks, "How is that?"

"He has you. He's happy to have you for a daughter, Aerith Strife. Not because you resemble me...because you are me reborn."

Aerith's eyes widen a bit from hearing what Aeris said. Everyone has been talking about how she resembled Aeris, and she finds out this to be true because of the fact that she is Aeris reborn. How could this be? She doesn't understand how would she be an old lover of her adoptive father reborn, yet she doesn't remember who her real family is. Why her? First, she got a lycan curse due to being bit by that black lycan ten years ago, then three years ago, she attempted human transmutation, but ended up hospitalized due to getting mako poisoning. Then her adoptive father injects her with demon blood, and now she finds out that she is a reincarnation of the woman Cloud had feelings for. Though she knows that Cloud is indeed happy now that he has her as well as Tifa, Marlene, Denzel, and Boco. Aeris watches Aerith with a gentle smile. "Listen, I have a task for you." She said.

"What sort of task?" Aerith asked in confusion.

"Do you remember the state alchemist you attempted to revived with human transmutation three years ago?"

Aerith nods slightly and answers, "You mean 'The Twilight Alchemist'? Yeah, I remember her."

"Well, believe it or not, but that girl is your blood sister. She's currently a chimera with a homunculus trapped within her."

Aerith's eyes widen once more as she makes a shocked look on her face. All this time, she had no idea that a state alchemist like Miyoko Mustang would turn out to be her sister. She had considered to be like a sister to her, but never realized that they were actually sisters. She then thinks back at when she woke up in Tifa's arms at ShinRa HQ, she then remembers seeing Roy and Hughes as she left along with Cloud and Tifa. She noticed the red symbol on Roy's gloves as she was leaving. It was a transmutation circle, but it was a transmutation circle for flame alchemy. Something just now clicks in Aerith's mind as she remembers Miyoko telling her that her adoptive father was "The Flame Alchemist". Aerith ponders on why now did Roy decide to come to Midgar on investigation, but then she shakes her head as she snaps out of her thoughts. She turns her attention back to Aeris then murmurs softly, "But what do you expect me to do? I don't have any special powers other the magical powers from materia."

"You must find Miyoko and help her keep herself in control of herself in any way possible. As far as powers go, you're becoming a demon now, though it would be a while before you would transform into her demon form."

"But I don't know what type of demon I've become though...and how could I help someone I barely know?"

Aeris gives a smile as she speaks, "You'll find out for yourself and she also the link that could help you find out about your real family." With that said, she fades away as Aerith's reflection appears in her place. Aerith frowns slightly as she shakes her head slightly, feeling really confused. She sits back down on her bed, thinking about what Aeris had told her. To her, all that was said was kinda hard to swallow, but somehow she trusts Aeris's words. For now, she lays down on her back, deciding to take a nap.

Meanwhile...At the ShinRa HQ, Reno was leaning against a wall, glancing over at Hojo. "Hey, Hojo?" He asked out of curiousity. "Since that chick's a demon now, what kind of demon will she become? I mean there different types of demons. Like the koorime, who could make pretty jewels from their tears."

Hojo turns his attention to the red-haired Turk with a smirk on his face. "Do you really want to know?" Reno nods in excitement as a response to Hojo's question. He was hoping that she would become a koorime so that he'll actually see her make jewels with her tears, but then Hojo says, "If she didn't have her lycan side, she would become a...fox demon." Reno's eyes widen as he then falls to the floor anime style. "A foxy chick?" Reno asks as he quickly gets up on his feet. "Great, she's now a critter with perky ears and a bushy tail that people would use for a feather duster."

Hojo chuckles slightly, "Yes, she's becoming a kitsune, though there might be some problems with her transformation due to the fact that she's also a lycan."

Elena walks into the office, eating some kind of candy bar that is NOT a Snickers bar, as she heard the conversation. "Hojo, quit making stuff up." She said in disbelief. "There's no way a human could be a kitsune. Yes, it is possible for humans to become werewolves, but not some Japanese fairy tale creature."

"Don't get so skeptical, Miss Elena." Hojo said. "It's very possible for a human to become a demon. And there are many Asian folklores on kitsune, not just Japanese folklore."

Elena just shrugs in disbelief as Reno glances over to her, chuckling. "How about you go pull on the girl's bushy tail and see if you get a curse from her?" He said teasingly.

"Very funny, Reno. Kitsune don't exist." Elena said as she reaches into her pocket.

"Oh yeah, they do!"

At that moment, Elena slams 500 gil on a table. "I bet 500 gil that they don't exist!" She yelled out as Reno looks at the 500 gil before making a twisted evil look on his face. "Deal! If we find one, then I'm taking your 500 gil and you'll buy me dinner. If we don't find any, then I'll be your servant for 7 days." Elena's eyes suddenly twinkle from hearing what Reno said if he loses the bet. _Oh I hope he loses!_ She thought to herself. _That way, I can finally have some peace with Tseng! Cha! _All of a sudden, Roy reaches into his pocket and hands Elena a Snickers back as she snaps out of her thoughts. "Ummm..." She said as she looks at the Snicker's bar. "What's with the Snickers?"

Roy responds with a chuckle, "It looks like you've been having those 'fantasies' that drive people nuts, and that's a side effect from hunger."

"WHY IS EVERYONE GIVING ME A SNICKERS BAR!?" Elena screamed as she then stomps over to a corner of the room while Hughes laughs. "Snickers! Don't let hunger happen to you!" He yelled out to Elena as she walked off. Elena's reaction made Reno roll on the floor, laughing his head off, and Rufus leans back on his chair, laughing as well. Even Tseng was laughing at the reaction as well as the thought of Reno going out with Elena. He couldn't believe that Elena didn't think kitsune would exist when she should've known that anything is possible nowadays. Since the rumors of demons appearing have been spreading lately, there is a possibility that a kitsune does exist. _Elena should've known this by now since we all took Japanese mythology. _He thought to himself as he shakes his head. All of a sudden, Tseng's cellphone goes off then Tseng walks off to answer it. Elena pouts a bit as she eats the Snickers Roy gave her.

Reno then sneaks behind Elena then says teasingly, "Beware the kitsune, Elena...they're great tricksters. They can shapeshift into anyone...like Rude!" Elena then rolls her eyes as she then responds with an annoyed tone in her voice, "I know that, Reno. We took Japanese mythology, remember?" Reno just laughs as Elena shrugs, thinking it's all just a little prank, and walks out of the room while Roy and Hughes chat with Rufus.

The next morning, Cloud rides his motorcycle with Aerith near Central City, and stops near a school. Aerith gets off the motorcycle and gives her adoptive father a big hug as he returns her hug with a smile before driving off. Aerith smiles as she walks into the school, hopefully things would go by normally before she was kidnapped by the ShinRa. As she wanders the hallway, she sees a crowd of students, looking at the test scores posted on a wall in one of the classroom. She could hear the other students chattering to one another about the high test score, commenting that Aerith's scores match to another student named Shuichi Minamino. Aerith gives a gentle smiles as she walks into the classroom and sits down on her desk.

She was used to getting comments like that as well as being the popular girl in school, especially among the guys. Many people would ask her to be in their study group, but she would refuse due to her condition on being a lycan. However, she tries to help out those who had problems with their homework, even though it was hard on her to stay after school. Aerith looks through a window as she seems to remember Cloud and Tifa talk about how would they be able to get her an education.

FLASHBACK

**A six year old Aerith was coming out of her room with a gentle smile on her face. As she walked downstairs, she could hear Cloud and Tifa having a conversation. She stops barely halfway down the stairs and sits down on the steps, curious on what Tifa and Cloud were talking about. "Cloud, I was thinking..." Tifa said to Cloud. "Now that Aerith will be staying with us, I think she should go to school."**

**Cloud shakes her head softly then responds, "I don't think it's a good idea, Tifa. Especially in the condition she's in."**

**"Cloud, we can't let her live her life without some type of education."**

**"But where to? You know that there's no school in Midgar at all."**

**"Likewise in Nibelheim."**

**"Can't send her to a public school." Cloud said as he rubs his chin. "Especially high school."**

**Tifa chuckles a bit before speaking, "We can think about high school later when she's older."**

**"As far as middle school goes, if she's getting sent to Sarayashiki Junior High, then the part that'll worry me is the Geek Squad."**

**Tifa suddenly winces slightly as she remembers hearing about a group of teenaged boys that called themselves the "Geek Squad", though she wasn't sure if that group exists, but with a different group. "We definitely can't send her to a military school." She said, knowing that there will be problems if Aerith does get sent there, but then she suddenly snaps her fingers. "I know! We can send her to private school."**

**Cloud's eyes widen slightly as he looks at Tifa. "Private school? But that's expensive though."**

**"We'll just put it in Rufus's tab." Tifa said as she winks.**

**Cloud makes a funny look on his face, but then says with a chuckle, "Man, Tifa, you're evil."**

**"I know I am." Tifa said with a chuckle as well and an evil grin.**

**"But where can we find a decent private school?"**

**"The closest town has a public school...maybe we could have her go at least a year there."**

**"Are you kidding me?" Cloud asked as he looks at Tifa with an eyebrow raised. "The closest town has problems with apparitions, and there's no way I'm sending her there."**

**"Well...there's a private school near Central."**

**"Central City? But that's kinda far off from here."**

**Tifa then giggles softly. "It won't take you long if you use your bike."**

**After hearing Cloud and Tifa's conversation, Aerith rests her head on her knees, but continues to listen to their conversation. She wonders why it is so difficult for them to find a decent school for her, but she didn't understand what they meant by her having a lycan curse. She thought that she just might be having some kind of illness. "But are you sure it's a good idea?" Cloud asked Tifa. "You and I both know that it's a big risk taking her to school since she's a lycan now." Cloud gives a sigh as he relaxes on a couch.**

**Tifa frowns slightly as she answers, "I know it is, but I just want for her make some friends like any other 6 year would, lycan or not. Besides, kids that go to private school don't gossip as much."**

**"...Yeah...maybe you're right." Cloud said with a smile before laughing.**

**"Alright then. Tomorrow morning, you'll take her."**


	13. The Joys of The Past, The Sorrows of The

**NOTE: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or Yu Yu Hakusho**

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AERITH...THE REINCARNATION OF AERIS?

PART XIII

THE JOYS OF THE PAST, THE SORROWS OF THE PRESENT

FLASHBACK

**The next morning, Tifa was fixing Aerith's hair. Aerith was wearing a cute little pink dress, a gold bracelet around her left wrist, and a pendant around her neck. She giggles softly as Tifa brushes her hair then sees Cloud walk into the bar. "Morning, daddy." She said with a smile as she greets her adoptive father. She was feeling excited on going to school for the first time. Cloud gives a nod in response and smiles as he watches Tifa brush Aerith's hair. "What are you doing?" Tifa doesn't turn to face Cloud, but answers him, "Just doing her hair. I would like for her to look her best on her first day of school." She then starts to put Aerith's hair up in a ponytail as Cloud slowly walks over to the girls while reaching into his pocket. He pulls out a pink ribbon and gives it to Tifa. "Put this on her." He said softly. Tifa looks at the ribbon then gives a gentle nod as she then ties the pink ribbon on Aerith's hair. Aerith looks at herself in the mirror and giggles as Tifa then looks at Cloud after she was finished and asks, "Well, what do you think?"**

**Cloud slightly smiles then responds, "She looks like a mini Aeris." Cloud walks over to the little girl and gently gives her a hug. "You look pretty, sweety."**

**Aerith then returns her adoptive father's hug and speaks, "Thank you, daddy."**

PRESENT DAY

Aerith gives a soft sigh to herself as she looks through the window as class seems to be going on. _Will things still be the same for me since now I'm a demon? _She thought to herself. _Or will I be isolated from the group? The students here see me as just a normal human girl, but they have no idea as to what I've really become._ To keep her mind off the subject, she watches the teacher go on with the lecture. After class was over, Aerith decides to read a book as two guys walk up to her and ask her if she could be in their study group. It was very common for her that guys would ask her to be in their study group. But due to her condition, she couldn't join any after school activities. Aerith turns a page of her book and looks at the two guys with a gentle smile then tells them that she couldn't due to being busy with helping her father out with his delivery work. She also reminds them on how protective her father could be, especially towards males who were eyeing her.

Aerith then gets up from her seat and bows slightly before walking out of the classroom as the guys grumbled about that she might be secretly in Shuichi's study group. She giggles softly to herself as she listens to other students chattering about random things. Little did she know, a young man with long red hair and green eyes watches Aerith. He was wearing a school uniform like the other male students wore. He sensed something about Aerith that wasn't human. He took a few classes with Aerith, but they haven't really interacted with one another. Aerith suddenly stops when she spotted the red-haired man and gives a slight bow. "Good day, Shuichi." She said in greeting. Shuichi nods slightly in response. "Good day to you as well, Aerith." He said softly before he bows slightly and walks off.

After watching Shuichi walk off, Aerith starts to wander the hallways. Out of all the guys here, Shuichi is the only one who doesn't try to ask her out or beg her to be in some study group. Though there was something about Shuichi that seemed a bit off. What could it be? Aerith have been sensing something strange about him, but somehow she wasn't as afraid of him as she was with Demon. Is it possible that he could be a lycan as well? Or perhaps maybe a demon? Aerith then shakes her head slight and continues to let the school day go on by as she does her normal activities. After school was over, she walks out of the school, and waits for Cloud to come pick her up. Though there have been times when Marlene and Denzel would pick her up while Cloud takes care of his delivery work.

But for today, it was Cloud's turn to pick her up as he parks his motorcycle nearby as Aerith walks over to her adoptive father with a smile, and she gets on the motorcycle. Cloud smiles before he starts to drive off, heading back to Midgar. Aerith would tell Cloud how things went in school and how her day went. Once they have returned to Midgar, Aerith would go to Boco's stall to take care of his needs. She smiles at her pet chocobo and pets his head as Boco kwehs softly with a happy look in his face. She walks out of the stables, and heads over to the 7th Heaven. She gives a wave to Tifa, who was cooking dinner, as she walks upstairs to her room to read a book. Tifa gives a smile as she watches Aerith, glad to see that she was back to her usual self.

Cloud walks over to a stool and sits down on it as Tifa gives him some supper. "Is the military still questioning the ShinRa about what happened?" He asked before he starts to eat his dinner. Tifa gives a slight shrug, having lost track on how long it has been since the incident happened. "I guess so." She said. "I haven't really been paying any attention as to what's been going on with the ShinRa. I was more concerned about Aerith more than anything to be honest." She gets herself a plate of food, and was about to call for Aerith, but then decides to let her come down on her own. She sits down on a stool beside Cloud and looks through the window. "Oh yeah, Barret told me that he's going back to Corel to tell Marlene and Denzel about Aerith's condition."

"He shouldn't have to...but I guess they have the right to know since they already know about Aerith's lycan curse anyways." Cloud said then chuckles slightly. "Besides, I probably won't hear the end of it from Marlene."

Tifa says with a soft giggle, "That's true." She then turns her attention to the sky out the window, noting the sun was setting. "Sunsets are so beautiful. They give beautiful colors to the sky."

Cloud nods slightly as he finishes his food. In Aerith's room, Aerith sits on her bed, reading a book. She hums softly to herself as she turns a page, but all of a sudden, she drops her book as she holds her sides in pain. She quickly looks at the window, but it was covered up so there was no way she could've came into contact with the light of the full moon. She then lets out a scream as she starts to transform into her lycan form. Cloud and Tifa heard the scream then they quickly make their way upstairs to Aerith's room, but by the time they've got there, Aerith was nowhere to be seen. The only thing they could see was a broken window. "She must've transformed into a lycan again." Tifa said.

Cloud responds with concern, "We have to find her before anyone else does and quickly!" With that said, Cloud runs back downstairs and out of the bar with Tifa following him. They decide to split up to search for Aerith. Cloud climbs on his motorcycle and begins his search as Tifa decided to search through Sector 7. Aerith, who was hidden in the shadows in an alleyway, watches Cloud and Tifa go off as a soft snarl escapes her throat. She then watches a random person walk by as she slowly sneaks over to pounce at the person. The person stops walking and looks around, but doesn't see anything before he gives a shrug. He starts to walk again, but then stops as he notices a large shadow looming over him. He quickly turns around, seeing the large female lycan, then lets out a scream as Aerith clamps her jaws into the person's throat.

As Tifa searches around Sector 7 for Aerith, she bumps into a familiar figure as she falls on her butt. "Oh, I'm so sorry," Tifa said as she stands up and brushes herself before looking at the figure, who turns out to be Demon in his human form. He grins slightly then bows respectfully. "No need to apologize, Miss." He said. "You seem concerned. Is something wrong?"

"Why yes...Aerith ran loose. I'm afraid that she'd transformed again."

"If you like, I would like to assist you in your search."

Tifa gives a gentle smile then nods slight. "Thanks, Demon. The more help, the better."

Demon gives a nod as he and Tifa continue the search for Aerith in Section. Meanwhile, Cloud rides through Sector 4, hoping that he'll find Aerith here. He looks around at many possible place at where she could be hiding, but then he hears something howling in the distance. _Please let it be you, Aerith. _Cloud thought to himself as he then starts to drive faster on his bike, heading towards the direction to where the sound was coming from. Meanwhile, Tifa and Demon stopped walking when they heard the howling as well. Demon sniffs the air, catching the scent of blood, as Tifa asks, "Do you think that howling might've been Aerith's?"

"It's hers alright without a doubt."

"How would you know that?" Tifa asked with suspicion in her eyes. Demon looks away from Tifa for a few seconds before taking a deep breath then looks back at her. "For now, we must find the girl. I'll explain later."

Tifa gives a nod as Demon then starts to take off to where the howling was coming from with Tifa following behind. Meanwhile, Cloud rides through another sector in Midgar then stops near a building. He decided to search for Aerith on foot as he jumps off his bike. As he looks around, a man was running for his life and bumped into Cloud. The man bounces back a bit, but doesn't fall to the ground. Though he seems to be trembling in fear as he was breathing rapidly. "Are you okay?" Cloud asked the man.

The man looks at Cloud and responds as if he was panicking, "How can I be okay when there's a rampaging monster here!?"

"What kind of monster was it?"

"It looks like a giant wolf."

Cloud's eyes widen slightly then asks calmly, "Where did you see it?"

"Over at Sector 5, but you should stay clear from it!"

"Don't worry about a thing. I'll handle the creature. I was hunting for something like that anyways."

"No need to, sir. I've called the professionals from ShinRa Inc."

Cloud gives a nod before responding, "Thanks for the info." He then quickly runs back to his motorcycle. _So Aerith's at Sector 5...Let's hope I could get to her before the ShinRa does._ Cloud thought to himself as he drives off to Sector 5. I just hope they sent Reeve or Tseng. As he made it to Sector 5, he looks around, finding dead bodies. He parks his motorcycle and starts his search for Aerith. He then spots a woman with blonde hair and a red dress, ordering guards to search the area for something. "Scarlet..." Cloud said as he slowly walks over to the woman. Scarlet then looks at Cloud with a stuck-up look on her face. "Well, if it isn't Cloud of AVALANCHE." She scoffed. "What's a scum like you doing here?"

"I would ask the same thing about you, but where is the lycan, Scarlet?"

"Lycan?" She asked then laughs. "Kya ha ha ha...Oh yes, the werewolf."

"You better not have killed her!" Cloud snapped with a glare.

Scarlet just chuckles evilly as Cloud waits for an answer from her. Somewhere in Sector 5, jumping from rooftop to rooftop was Aerith, who's still in lycan form. She had blood dripping from her fangs and stains of blood on her claws and on her muzzle. She then jumps down from another rooftop, but then spots a squad of soldiers coming her way then starts to run. "There it is! Shoot it!" One of the soldiers said. The other soldiers begin to fire at Aerith as she tries to flee from her hunters, but got shot on her leg and on her arm. A growl escape her wanting, getting the urge to attack her hunters. She sniffs the air as she looks for a place to hide, but all she could find was an old abandoned church. All of a sudden a gentle voice speaks in her mind, "_Come inside, young lycan, for this place is a sanctuary for those in need of protection._" The female lycan's ears perk up slightly as she heard the voice then looks around, but not spotting anyone. Aerith then walks over to the church and goes inside.


	14. Cloud’s Ultimate Decision

**NOTE: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or Malice (who belongs to my sister).**

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AERITH...THE REINCARNATION OF AERIS?

PART XIV

CLOUD'S ULTIMATE DECISION

The lycan slowly walks into the church, and she looks around as her ear quirks at the direction where the sound of footsteps heading her way. She growls softly as she closes the door then hides in the shadows to wait for the footsteps to pass by. It was the footsteps of the soldiers that were hunting her down. They search around the area for the female lycan, but all they found was small drops of blood on the ground. Thinking that she got away, the soldiers then start to leave the area. After the sounds of footsteps faded, Aerith slumps against a wall as she then sniffs the air, catching the scent of something. She slowly stands up and follows the scent as she explores the church.

The interior of the church seems to be abandoned as if no one comes in here anymore. She could see two rows of benches as well as some columns that hold the structure together. As she walked down the aisle, she spots what seems to be a pool of water at the front of the benches. The water seems to be shimmering from the moon's light Aerith looks up at the ceiling, noticing a large hole in it. She looks up at the night sky through the hole, then howls at the moon. She then sniffs the air, catching the same scent from before, and she looks to her left. The scent was coming from a small patch of yellow and white flowers. The lycan slowly walks over to the small patch and sniffs at the flowers, but then she sneezes softly.

All of a sudden, she holds her chest in pain while softly whimpers then she slowly transforms back into a human. She falls to her knees once she was back to normal, then she shakes her head. _What happened? _She thought as she rubs her eyes, and looks around the room. _Where am I?_ She thought again. _How did I get here? Last thing I remember was being in my room then just blacked out. _She looks at her hand then all of a sudden her eyes widen as she saw stains of blood on her finger tips. _Blood!? _She thought. _Where did it come from? _She then slowly stands up and backs up. She couldn't believe that there was blood on her, but hopes that she didn't kill anyone. She then spots the flower patch, and blinks a bit as she walks over to them. She checks the flowers if anyone stepped on them or not as she starts to relax a bit. _This place is very peaceful, and these flowers...they're beautiful. _She thought with a gentle smile on her face.

She starts to walk out of the church, thinking that it might be a good place to bring Cloud at sometimes. As she got closer to the door, she could voices coming from outside. The voice of her adoptive father and the voice of a woman. She slightly opens the door, but only enough to peek at Cloud, who was standing nearby the entrance. He was facing at Scarlet, who was laughing her stupid laugh. They seemed to have been standing there for a while, possibly they have followed Aerith's howling from earlier. "Kyah ha ha ha ha! I've heard rumors about you keeping a werewolf, Cloud." Scarlet said. "Come on, why would anyone want to keep a filthy, flea-bitten, moon howling, blood-thirsty beast like that?"

Cloud glares at Scarlet. "It was none of your concern, Scarlet." He said calmly. "Aerith was a lost little girl who needed a home and a family."

"Kyah ha ha ha! Don't make me laugh, Cloud. The girl is a monster, and yet you treat her like she is a human being."

Aerith's eyes widen at what Scarlet said about her, then she gently leans her back against the door, looking at her blood-stained hands. _Am I really a monster? _She thought, trying to blink back tears as she stares at her hands. _My hands...They're covered with blood._ Tears start to roll down her cheeks as she sits down on the floor. She didn't like the scent of blood at all, but she was able to tell what type of blood it was due to her enhanced senses from being a lycan as well as now becoming a demon. It was the scent of human blood. _I really must be...a monster._ She suddenly perks her head up when she heard her adoptive father speak. "Aerith IS human! I don't care if she is a monster. She's still my daughter! And I'm proud to be her father!"

Scarlet scoffs, "So are you going to let her continue her killing spree until her bloodlust is satisfied?"

"Aerith is not like that! All she wanted is to be like any other typical girl."

Scarlet rolls her eyes as all of sudden, a voice speaks to Cloud, "Cloud..." It was the voice of Rufus Shinra, who walked from another area not too far away with Dark Nation at his side. From hearing Rufus's voice, Cloud quickly turns to face the President and his faithful pet. "I hate to tell you this, but for the sake of innocent people in Midgar...you can't keep her." Rufus said with a serious look on his face. Cloud's eyes widen a bit from the news then responds, "You can't be serious!?"

"I am serious. Tseng hates this as well. I'm sorry, but she's gonna have to go."

"But where will she go?"

Just as Rufus was about to answer, Scarlet interrupts, "Kyah ha ha ha! You have no choice, Cloud. It's either she leaves here permanently or she dies." She laughs again, but all of a sudden, Rufus stuffs a sock down Scarlet's throat, apparently he was annoyed with her stupid "Kyah ha ha" laugh as much as he was annoyed with Heidegger's horse laugh. He often wondered how his father put up with people like Heidegger and Scarlet. He laughs triumphantly as Scarlet gives an evil look, then he turns his attention back to Cloud. "You have no idea that I've been wanting to do that. Tell you what...I'll give you two weeks to make your decision." He said before walking off towards a helicopter in the distance. Scarlet and Dark Nation follow after Rufus as Cloud watches them leave.

After the helicopter flew off towards the ShinRa building, Cloud then slowly walks over to the door of the church. Aerith gasps softly then quickly runs to hide, thinking that it might be one of the Turks coming for her again. She hid behind a column and quickly wipes her tears away as she watches the door open. She could also see the shadow of someone coming in, but was too scared to see who it was. Cloud walks into the church and looks around. "Aerith..." He said softly as he starts to walk toward a bench. Aerith suddenly perks up from hearing Cloud's voice then peeks from behind a column, spotting Cloud walking. She then runs over to her adoptive father and hugs him tightly. Cloud stops when he felt the hug then looks at his adopted daughter with a sadden smile as he returns her hug. "It's alright...I'm here..." He said softly.

At that moment, Tifa and Demon walk into the church and spot the two. "Aerith!" Tifa called out as she runs over to Cloud and Aerith. "Are you alright?" Aerith looks at Tifa and gives a slight nod in response. She then notices Demon, who was leaning against a wall. "I remember you. You're that guy in the forest from the other day."

"Yes, I am he." He said with a slight grin.

Aerith gives a gentle nod as she walks over to the small flower patch. Cloud watches his adopted daughter with a smile, thinking to himself, _She's definitely like Aeris...I can never forget that day when we met the second time. Aeris would check on the flowers here in this church until the incident with the Turks...more like the incident with Reno._ Cloud then frowns slightly as he explains to Tifa on what Scarlet and Rufus had told him earlier. Tifa's jaw dropped slightly when she heard the news then clenches her fists. "They can't be serious!?" She snapped. "That's not right!"

"I know..." Cloud responded with a sigh. "But you know Rufus calls the shots. What other choices do we have?"

Tifa then hits her palm with her fist before taking a deep breath. "What are we gonna do now?" She asked softly.

"I won't let Aerith die...It seems exile is the only choice..."

"But where to? Barret and the others travel around in the Highwind. Marlene and Denzel don't have a place of their own either."

"I guess I'll go pay Vincent a visit. He might know where we could take her."

"At least let her go to school one last time."

Cloud gives a nod as glances back at Aerith, but then he turns his attention to Demon, who has been listening to their conversation. "Cloud," Demon said before taking a deep breath then closes his eyes. "There's something I must tell you."

"What is it, Demon?" Cloud asked.

"I'm the one who gave her the curse." Demon responded softly as he then opens his eyes. "I'm sorry for what I've done." Cloud, not too surprised about what Demon said, walks up to the silver-haired Turk and places his hand on his shoulder. "I kinda figured that you were the one, but there's no need to apologize." Cloud said. "I'm still in your debt since you did try to save my daughter's life." Demon looks at Cloud before glancing at Aerith as he remembers what Lust told him the other day. He snaps out of his thoughts when Cloud asks him, "Would you like to come with me tomorrow to see Vincent?"

"Sure." Demon responded with a slight grin as well as a nod.

Cloud nods as well then speaks, "I guess we'll be heading home now." He then looks at Aerith and calls out to her. Aerith perks up from hearing her adoptive father call out to her and looks at his direction before running over to him. Demon then watches Tifa, Cloud, and Aerith leave the church as he shakes his head slightly. He wondered how Cloud figured out that he was the black lycan. Could it be from Tseng's suspicion? He knew that Cloud is still feeling suspicious about him, but seems a bit more open since Demon did try to save her life.

Demon gives a sigh as memories of his past start to play through his mind. At a young age, he was taken to Hojo and was experimented on. Hojo, by that time, lost interest in the Jenova Project, but became interested on doing research on various demons. Due to the experimentations that was done to him, Demon lost some of his memories. Though he was able to make his escape in the form of a black werewolf. He couldn't control himself until his encounter with Aerith 10 years ago. After he bit her arm, he was able to regain some control of himself from noting the great look of fear in the child's eyes. Wanting to live a normal life, Demon decided to work at the ShinRa company as a Turk under the alias "Demon", knowing that Hojo would found out his identity and wait for the opportunity to capture him once more. Snapping out his thoughts, he now wonders if he should tell them what the homunculi are planning. He shakes his then loses his eyes as he then walks out of the church.

At the 7th Heaven, Aerith was sleeping in her room after her wounds were bandaged. Cloud was downstairs relaxing in a couch as Tifa was sitting on a stool, sipping on some cider. All of a sudden, a black and white cat walks into the bar. It was wearing a red cape, a crown, and a pair of boots. "Why the long faces?" It asked with a bit of a Scottish accent. Tifa perks up slightly from hearing the cat speak then she glances over to it. "Oh hello, Cait Sith." She said. "What brings you here?"

"I've heard about the lycan incident from Rufus." Cait Sith said with a sadden look on his face. "I'm sorry that your daughter had to leave."

"Don't apologize, Cait." Tifa said with a sigh. "We'll figure something out. Cait...What do you know about Demon? I've heard that he was the newest member of the Turks."

"Demon?" Cait Sith asked as he tilts his head slightly. "Oh! Yeah, I know who you're talking about. Yes, he became a Turk a long time ago under the alias 'Demon' as you may know. The reason why he wouldn't reveal his actual name is beyond me. Though there is some info you should know."

"Really? What is it?"

"I've caught Demon conversating with some strange woman in a black dress. They were saying something about your daughter creating the 8th homunculus, whom they've called Malice."

"Homunculus? Isn't that an artificial beings created from alchemy?"

Cait Sith gives a slight nod, "I think so. Anyways, the strange woman wants Malice to join her cause. As for Demon, I'm not sure what his intentions are...To be honest, when I first saw him, I thought for a moment that it was Sephiroth himself."

"Hmmm...You think maybe he might be Sephiroth's reincarnation like Aerith is Aeris's?"

"Who knows...but I'll try to dig deeper into this guy for ya."

"Please do, Cait. There's something about him that's off."

Cait Sith says with a nod, "I'll see what I can do." With that said, the cat walks out of the bar. Tifa gives a slight yawn before getting up from her stool. She notices that Cloud had fallen asleep and walks over to him. She covers him with a blanket before she goes upstairs to her room for the night.


	15. Goodbye

**Whew...Finally got off my lazy butt and got back to revising...and here's the next chapter. Once again, I don't own Final Fantasy VII.**

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AERITH...THE REINCARNATION OF AERIS?

PART XV

GOODBYE

The next morning before the sun was beginning to rise, Cloud was getting stuff ready for the trip. Tifa watches Cloud, hoping that Vincent would help them out. She walks over to Cloud and gives him a hug. "Be careful, Cloud." She said softly. Cloud just gives his childhood friend a small smile before hugging her back, reassuring her that things will be okay. They both agreed that Tifa will take Aerith to school one last time since Cloud was leaving to seek advice from Vincent. Tifa wanted to wake up Aerith so that she could say goodbye to her adoptive father and wish him luck on his trip, but she decided to let the girl rest. All the events that's been going on has been stressing her out recently. Tifa suddenly snaps out of her thoughts as she and Cloud heard the sound of footsteps enter the bar.

The footsteps was coming from no other than Demon as he gives a nod to Tifa and Cloud. "So are we going or are you two are just going to stand there and make-out?" He asked with a grin. That little remark caused Cloud and Tifa to have their cheeks stained with blushes. Cloud then shakes his head before responding, "Yeah, we're going now. The sooner the better." He then signals the silver-haired Turk to follow him to his motorcycle, Fenrir. They both leave the bar as Tifa watches with slight concern, hoping for the best. She then decides to go upstairs to wake up Aerith to have her get ready to go to school.

Hours later, the Turks were waiting at the Conference Room for Rufus. Tseng was sitting down on a chair, taking a sip of his coffee as Elena rests her head on her arms, which she had on the table. She lets out a yawn that shows that she was getting bored. Reno leans back on his chair as he looks at his watch. "Man, when he's gonna show up already?" He said in an irritated tone. "I wanna get this over with so I can go home." Tseng lets out a sigh as he turns his attention to the red-haired Turk. "I know how you feel since that incident a while back and with the military questioning us." He said, trying not to show that he too was getting impatient. Since the whole incident, the only thing that has been bothering him was his suspicions toward Demon and about what would become of Aerith. He snaps out of his thoughts when he heard Reno speak again, "I'm so glad that those guys finally left."

"Don't celebrate just yet. They did say that they'll be back in 3 months."

"WHAT!?" Reno yelled out with a shocked look on his face. "3 months!? Awww, man. That means we're gonna have to put up having photos shoved at our faces again by that one guy again." As Reno pouts, Rufus walks into the room, along with Dark Nation and Scarlet. "Wazzup?" Rufus asked as Reno and Elena perk up from hearing the President's voice. They look at him as they point their fingers at him with angry looks on their faces while shouting, "YOU'RE LATE!!"

Rufus glances at them then says with a chuckle, "Sorry, I was lost in the path of life."

"LIAR!" Elena yelled out. "Who ever heard of being lost in a path of life?"

"A guy by the name of Kakashi Hatake." Rufus said with a smirk as Scarlet takes a seat and Dark Nation sits near his master's chair. Reno suddenly snaps his fingers when he heard Rufus mention Kakashi. "Oh yeah!" The red-haired Turk yelled. "He's that ninja eye with that funky eye, right? Man! Those were the good o' days!"

Elena rolls her eyes, wanting to get the meeting over with and hoping that she'll get to spend time with Tseng. "Let's just get on with the meeting, please?" She said in an irritated tone.

"Man, Elena. You're so rude..." Reno said. "...like Rude!"

"Now, Reno, you shouldn't be so rude to Rude like that." Rufus said with a sigh as he walks over to his chair and sits down on it.

Meanwhile, Cloud and Demon have made the trip to the small quiet village of Nibelheim. The very village where Cloud and Tifa grew up at as well as the one particular incident with  
Sephiroth occurred. Cloud could remember his hometown burning in flames, and many people were slaughtered by Sephiroth's sword. They jump off the Fenrir, and they make their way towards an old mansion which seem to belong to the ShinRa. Cloud looks around the village as his mind fills with memories upon reaching the large doors to the mansion. Like Tseng, his suspicions toward Demon was starting to grow, especially with his interest towards Aerith. Demon looks to Cloud with a slight frown on his face. "Is something wrong?" He asked.

From hearing Demon's question, Cloud snaps out of his thoughts before glancing over to the silver-haired Turk. "No...Nothing's wrong," he responded as he shook his head. Demon gives a nod as Cloud knocks on the large door, then they waited for someone to open the door. Though shortly after, a male voice speaks from the other side of the door. "State your business here." The voice demanded. "If you want to enter this mansion, you must speak the password as well." Cloud blinks in confusion about the whole password deal, but just as he was about to answer the voice, Demon finally speaks to the voice, seeming to recognize the voice, "Jenova's witness have given us permission to enter this establishment...Uncle Yazoo."

Cloud's eyes widen a bit when Demon called Yazoo "uncle" before he glances over to him. "Uncle Yazoo?" He asked as the large door finally opens, revealing the one who opened it. A silver-haired man, wearing a black outfit, stands near the doorway as a grin crosses his face when he glances at Demon. "Well, well. If it isn't Kadaj's boy." Yazoo said before giving a nod in greeting towards Cloud. Cloud nods back to Yazoo after listening to him and Demon speak. _Apparently, they seem to know each other. _He thought to himself. _So this is Kadaj's son. I've heard about him before. _He remembers the silver-haired trio from years after he and his friends defeated Sephiroth and saved the planet from Meteor. They were looking for Jenova so that Sephiroth would return as well as the Reunion taking place, but after Sephiroth's defeat as well as their own defeat, they were given another chance in life with a change of heart. Kadaj got married and had a son who mysteriously disappeared years ago. His name was Rylon. Cloud figured that Rylon is Demon's real name. Though what bothered Cloud's mind was Hojo. He kept wondering how was he alive after his defeat years ago, but thought of the possibility of someone or something reviving him.

After a while, he snaps of his thoughts as Rylon and Yazoo were talking. Cloud then turns his attention to Yazoo with a serious look on his face. "Yazoo, have you seen Vincent?" He asked. Yazoo glances over to Cloud before giving a soft nod. He motions for him and Rylon to enter into the mansion. "So how long you've been living here?" Cloud asked as he walked into the mansion, and looks around as Rylon heads upstairs towards a room.

"For some time now, thanks to Vincent's generosity since no one else lives here." Yazoo responded.

"Are Loz and Kadaj here as well?"

"Not at the moment, they're out taking care of things." Yazoo said before asking out of curiosity, "So why do you need to see Vincent for?"

Cloud then looks down to the floor for a few seconds as he responds, "It's something personal regarding my daughter."

"Sounds like you're in a tight situation." A voice said as a man with long black hair walks downstairs towards Cloud. He wore a black outfit with a red cape, which seems to be tattered at the edges, and has boots with gold metal attached to them. He also wore gloves, though his left arm was cover with gold metal as well as on his left gloves, making it look like he has claws. His red eyes glance over to Cloud as the blonde spikey-haired guy looks back at the man. "Long time no see, Vincent." Cloud said in greeting to the man.

Vincent gives a nod in acknowledgement to Cloud's greeting. "You wanted to see me about something, correct?" He asked. Cloud nods in response, then he explains everything to Vincent. About how he found Aerith 10 years ago, and all the events that happened up to this point. As Vincent listened to Cloud's story, he seems to go into deep thought. He knew that the girl wouldn't have much of a chance if she stayed in Midgar, and the fact that she's becoming a demon would make things even more difficult for her. Finally, the ex-Turk glances at Cloud. "Cloud..." He finally spoke with a calm tone in his voice. "You do realize the girl won't have a chance if she stays with you in the condition she's in?" Cloud looks down to the floor for a while before giving a soft nod before Vincent continues to speak. "It would be best for her to go into the Demon World." Cloud's eyes suddenly widen slightly when he heard Vincent as more questions start to fill his mind. Why Demon World? Why send an innocent child to such a place? The thought of it goes deeper and deeper in his mind as he then walks outside for some fresh air.

Meanwhile, Aerith was sitting at her desk, looking through the window. She thought of how much she would miss going to school and the friends that she made. This was her last day of school, and it was hard on her for the fact she won't be coming back to this school because of what she would becoming. She was worried that she would cause harm to everyone in that school if she transforms again, also that people would consider her a monster because of her condition. She could hear a few people chattering about her, but she paid it no mind at all. It was their break time, though all she could do is just stare out the window as her heart feels overwhelmed with what's been going on. Then Shuichi walks toward her, noting her depression. "This is unlike you, Aerith. Is something wrong?" He asked with slight concern.

Aerith perks up a bit from hearing Shuichi and she glances over to him as she tries to hide her depression. "I don't really want to talk about it, Shuichi." She said softly. It was true that was unlike her to be so depressed. She had never felt so miserable in her life with all that's going on. She had wondered why she had to bear this burden of carrying a curse as well as becoming a creature that would cause so much bloodshed. "Would you like to come outside for some fresh air?" Shuichi asked as he wondered what was causing her to feel so down. Aerith then gently nods in response to Shuichi's question, and she slowly stands up from her desk then makes her way up to the rooftop. Shuichi watches Aerith before deciding it would be best to follow her in case if she passes out or in case something out of the ordinary happens. The other students watch while grumbling about why Shuichi would follow Aerith as well as feeling jealousy towards the girl.

Once they've got to the rooftop, Aerith closes her eyes as she takes deep breathes while clearing her mind. Why was all of this happening to her? Why her? She often wondered why bad things have to happen to good people. She knew that she hasn't done anything wrong, yet things are getting rough for her. Her body trembles slightly as she starts to feel more overwhelmed from many questions entering her mind as well as thinking about the other events that happened. Shuichi frowns as he continued to watch her. "Are you sure that you don't want talk about it? You don't have to if you don't want to." He said softly as tears begin to roll down Aerith's cheeks. She nods softly, but her body still trembles then Shuichi walks over to Aerith before giving her a gentle hug. He wasn't showing any signs of falling in love with her, but only wanted to at least give her some comfort.

Still having tears rolling down her cheeks, Aerith then steps away from Shuichi. "I'm sorry..." She said softly, but she did feel some comfort. She didn't want to tell him of what she was becoming over the fear of being called a monster or that everyone in the school would try to kill her. She then walks over to the door, but then stops to look back at Shuichi. "...Goodbye..." With that said, she goes back inside the school building before closing the door. Shuichi could sense something was strange about the girl, but he didn't want to pry into her business. Trying to cheer her up was all he could do as well as just watched her go back inside the building. He then goes into deep thought after a while.


	16. Conference War I

**I know I have been slacking with the revising, but life calls and so does writer's block. I'll try to get it all done as soon as possible.**

**NOTE: I do NOT own Final Fantasy VII, Yu Yu Hakusho, or Naruto. Aerith Strife and Rylon belong to me as Malice belongs to my sister.**

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AERITH...THE REINCARNATION OF AERIS?

PART XVI

CONFERENCE WAR I

After he watched Aerith leave the rooftop, Shuichi gets the feeling that something is off. Something is not right, he thought to himself. Something about her isn't human, but what? He shakes his head softly then he makes his way to the door. Just as he places his hand on the knob, he could hear a male voice calling out to him. "Kurama! What's up?" Shuichi then turns around to face the source of the voice. It was a young man with black hair that's been greased back, and was wearing a green school uniform. "Skipping school again, Yusuke?" Kurama asked. "And please I'm Shuichi here." Yusuke chuckles as he walks over to Kurama. "Hey! Nobody's gonna find out anything up here." Yusuke said before he makes a smirk. "So what were you doing with that girl? Hrn hrn."

"It's not what you think. I was trying to cheer her up that's all."

"Oh I get it! You were trying to get a girlfriend!"

Kurama sighs before responding, "It's not like that at all...Anyways, is there a reason why you came here? You recieved your next case from Koenma?"

"Nah," Yusuke answered as he shakes his head. "I was checking to see if you were actually asking a girl out since I saw you up here with a girl." He snickers slightly as Kurama grew silent for a while. Doesn't that spirit detective have anything better to do than to spy on others? Kurama knew that Yusuke would never pass school if he kept skipping out, yet he knew when it comes to a case sent from Spirit World, skipping out would be an exception. After a while, Kurama just goes back inside the school building as Yusuke watches with a slight smirk on his face. The Spirit Detective then decides to leave the red-head alone and jumps down from the rooftop while deciding to pick a fight with a certain rival.

Meanwhile at ShinRa HQ, Rufus began his meeting at the Conference Room. "You all know why I'm calling this meeting right?" He asked, but everyone was silent before Reno raises his hand. He glances over at the red-haired Turk and acknowledges him to speak. "So you could find a reason to keep us from going home?" Reno asked, but Rufus shakes his head in response before acknowledging Elena when she rose her hand next. "I bet your reason for calling this meeting just so we could discuss why I keep getting those Snickers bars?" She asked then Rufus was about to shake his head again, but instead he makes an evil look at the blonde Turk. "Not exactly," Rufus responded. "but I do have a gift for you...more like a gift from everybody of ShinRa Inc."

Elena's eyes brighten up when she heard Rufus, but then gets a slight worried look on her face. "Really? What is it?" She asked out of curiosity. Part didn't want to know what she was gonna get, yet part of her wanted to know. If it was a gift from Tseng, then she would definitely want to know what this gift would be. Any gift from Tseng would be special to her, even it would be just a Snickers bar. She would treasure the wrapper of the chocolate bar that has been on Tseng's hands. Rufus snickers as he notices Elena going into her daydreaming phase once more, then he motions for Reno, Tseng, and Rude to come to him. The three chosen Turks got up from their seats and they walked over to Rufus before lining up side by side. "You guys ready to do 'the Jutsu'?" Rufus asked in a whisper.

"Oh, I love 'the Jutsu'!" Reno responded in a whisper as he makes an evil look. All four of them reach into their pockets and took out ninja headbands with the ShinRa logo on them. They then tied the headbands around their hands at the same time while Elena watches with excitement. They then start to perform handsigns as Reno yelled out, "SHINRA INCORPORATED'S MOST SECRET..." At that moment, Rufus yelled out, "AND MOST SACRED JUTSU!" All of a sudden, the four made a handsign as they yelled out in unison, "ONE THOUSAND SNICKERS BAR OF HUNGER!" Elena's excited expression suddenly becomes a shocked expression as she then pouts when she heard them mention Snickers. Why her? Why is everyone giving her a Snickers of all things? All of a sudden, one thousand Snickers bars appear out of nowhere as Rufus laughs and he glances over to Elena. "Since you enjoyed them so much, we've decided to give you a lifetime supply so you could satisfy your hunger."

"Mr. President!" Scarlet called out to Rufus with a funny look on her face. "That's enough jokes! Now let's get down to business, shall we?" Rufus then stops laughing when he heard Scarlet then turns his attention to her with an annoyed look on his face. "Wow, Scarlet, you're so rude..." He said calmly before he quickly points at Reno just before the red-haired Turk could say anything, giving him a "Don't even think about it" look while knowing what he's going to say. Reno pouts before he quickly turns his head while folding his arms over his chest, then Rufus shakes his head before he noticed Rude raising his hand. He then turned his attention to the bald Turk. "Yes, Rude?"

"Is this meeting have something to do with that girl?" Rude asked.

"Why thank you for reminding me, Rude. I'll double your salary." Rufus answered with a grin as Reno grumbles about Rufus not raising his salary. Then all of a sudden, a "Kyah ha ha" laugh was heard coming from Scarlet, who turned her attention to Rufus. "Kyah ha ha ha! Did you see the look on Cloud's face when you told him that couldn't keep that beast he's been hiding?" She snickered.

Tseng then gives a dirty look towards Scarlet, but he held his tongue. He didn't like the fact that a girl so young had to be exiled over something she couldn't control. He felt that it must be true that Aerith could be Aeris's reincarnation, though the girl had a lycan curse. It didn't matter to him if she had a curse, he could see Aeris in the girl's place every time he looks at the girl. He also didn't like the way Scarlet was snickering about Rufus's decision on having the girl leave, but he know it was pointless to argue with her. He snaps out of his thoughts when he heard Scarlet laugh once more, but then Reno smacks her upside the head with his metal rod. "OW! That hurt, you red-haired jerky!" She yelled as she rubbed her head.

Reno gives a grin as he responded, "It meant to hurt, you blonde prostitute!"

"Who are you calling a prostitute, you street punk!?" She yelled again before she slapped Reno across his face. The red-haired Turk gives a funny look at Scarlet after being slapped. "Hey! I do have a job, thank you very much!" He yelled back with a sarcastic tone in his voice. "I happen to be a Turk for ShinRa Inc." He sticks his tongue out at Scarlet.

Rufus gives a sigh as he watches the fight between Reno and Scarlet. Knowing that trying to talk with those two would like talking to brick walls, Rufus then glances over to Tseng, noting that the Turk was in deep thought. "Penny for your thoughts, Tseng?" Just as Tseng was about to respond to Rufus, Elena interrupts, "Ummm...Mr. President?"

"Yes, Elena?" Rufus answered as he glanced over to the blonde Turk.

"You do realize that Demon isn't here, right?"

"Oh, I know...Though it wouldn't hurt for him to come to these meetings. I wonder what's going on with him."

As the meeting continues on...sort of...Meanwhile in an abandoned building, Lust and Gluttony were sitting on some boxes while they wait for someone to show up. Then a bat flies into the building and lands in front of the two homunculi. Lust watched the bat before a small grin crosses her lips. "Nice of you to join us, Envy." She said softly. The bat squeaks before it then shifts into the form of a young man, wearing a black sleeveless shirt that reveals his stomach with what seems to be a combination of a black skirt and black shorts. The man had long black hair that makes him look like a palm tree. He glances over to Lust with a grin before he responds, "Yes, it is a pleasure."

"Any luck of finding Malice?" Lust asked.

Envy shakes his head slightly then answers, "No, but I think we might have a chance of finding her at Hanging Neck Island. The Dark Tournament's taking place soon, and I'm sure she wouldn't want to miss the action."

"Yes, I am aware of that."

Envy gives a nod, then he shifts into Aerith. "And what about this girl? I've heard that she's become a demon now. Should we take care of her now before she and Malice encounter each other?" He asked in Aerith's voice.

"That wouldn't be necessary." Lust responded. "I've heard that she'll be living in exile. Her 'family' won't be able to protect her when she leaves."

Envy then shifts into Rylon. "And what about this guy?" He asked in Rylon's voice. "He might cause trouble for us."

"Yes, that does pose a problem." Lust said with a frown. "He already ruined our plans for the girl...though he has been given orders to get the girl's demon side to awaken."

"I don't care what do you to him, Lust." Envy spoke in his normal voice as he then shifts back to normal. "Just as long he doesn't interfere with our plans. However, I do suspect that he might have plans of his own for the girl, but he knows the consequences if he betrays us." Envy then, along with Lust and Gluttony, make an evil grin as Gluttony laughs slightly.


	17. Conference War II

**I'm proud to say that I'm liking how the story is looking so far. Hope to have it finished soon.**

**NOTE: I do NOT own Final Fantasy 7, or other special cross-over guests. The only character I own in this chapter is Aerith, and Malice (though only mentioned) belongs to my sister.**

AERITH...THE REINCARNATION OF AERIS?

PART XVII

CONFERENCE WAR II

Outside the ShinRa mansion, Cloud sat on the rooftop as he stared at the sky. His eyes glistened with the moonlight as they gave a soft greenish glow. _Why should she be sent there? Why? _Cloud thought to himself. He really didn't want for Aerith to leave, but it seemed that he didn't have a choice. Tears begin to spill from his eyes. He felt that luck has turned against him when it comes to having someone very precious to him. He thought of his days in SOLDIER and how he met his best friend, Zack Fair. The memory of Zack's death remained fresh in his mind, and he remembered the promise he made to his dying friend. He also thought of Aeris, and how much she got him out of his shell. He remembered her saying how much he reminded her of her lost love...Cloud's best friend, Zack. The memory of Aeris's death also remained fresh in Cloud's mind. He remembered Sephiroth taking away the life of a girl who meant alot to him.

He felt then that it was his fault that their deaths happened. He did nothing to save his friends, but then he realized that he could try to have his sins forgiven. All of a sudden, Cloud snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a voice saying, "Cloud..." Cloud recognized the voice then he turns around to see who was behind him. The voice belonged to none other than Vincent Valentine. "Hey, Vincent." Cloud said. "I didn't hear you come up here."

Vincent slowly walks over to Cloud while speaking, "It must be hard on you, but you know what must be done."

Cloud gives a soft nod before he then looks up at the sky once more. "Vincent...Why does she have to go to there?" He asked.

"Do you realize what type of demon she has become?" Vincent asked as he folds his arms over his chest. Cloud then looks to the ex-Turk with a look of confusion in his face. "Not really." He answered. "I didn't really examined the vial when I injected her with a serum. All I wanted was to save her life."

"That vial you used..." Vincent said. "it contained kitsune blood."

Cloud's eyes widen a bit. "Kitsune blood?" He asked in a confused tone. "As in the spirit fox? You're saying that Aerith is now going to become a kitsune?"

"That is correct." Vincent responded with a nod. "Your daughter is now human, lycan, and kitsune. Though her body is trying to adjust with having demon powers and lycan skills. Fortunately, her lycan and kitsune sides would cancel out her bloodlust by the time her body becomes adjusted."

"So does that explain why she transformed into a lycan without the full moon? It was all because of her body adapting to her new form?"

Vincent nods in response to Cloud's question. Cloud then looks down from the rooftop, thinking about what's been said. He thought that the main reason for Aerith's trip to Demon World was all to help her adjust to her new form, although he didn't like the fact that she wouldn't be able to return to Midgar because of what she has become. As he goes into deep thought, an idea clicks in his mind as his head perks up. At that moment, he could see two men wearing black making their way toward the mansion. Both of them have silver hair, but one had short hair while the other was a bit longer. Cloud recognizes the men as Kadaj and Loz. He then decides to head back inside the mansion as Vincent stayed behind.

Meanwhile...in ShinRa HQ, the argument between Reno and Scarlet intenses while Elena was still angry about her life-time supply of Snickers, and Dark Nation was napping peacefully as if all the racket going on in the Conference Room wasn't bothering him at all. Tseng gives a sigh while rubbing his temples as Rude sat on his chair in silence. Then all of a sudden, Rufus blows a whistle to shut everybody up. Everyone else then turns their attention to Rufus after they heard the whistle. The President then looks at them then says with a grin, "I should this more often. Anyways, this is a meeting not a night club!"

Reno then raises his hand. "Mr. President!"

Rufus notices Reno then gives a slight sigh. "What is it now, Reno?"

"If this is not a night club, then why do we have a prostitute in here?" Reno responded while pointing to Scarlet, who then gives an evil glare at the red-haired Turk. "For the last time, I'm not a prostitute!" She yelled.

"Let's see..." Reno said while making a funny look. "You're blonde. That's one thing, and you're wearing a red dress! Therefore...I've come to the conclusion that you are definitely...A prostitute!"

Scarlet gritted her teeth while getting the urge to punch Reno hard on the face. Rufus thought with a sigh, _Why do I have to put up with these things? _At that moment, he notices Tseng with his hand raised. "Yes, Tseng?" He asked, having a feeling that he might express himself about the whole ordeal with Aerith.

Tseng was silent for a moment when Rufus acknowledged him, but then he finally speaks, "With all due respect, Mr. President, I don't like the idea that you're having Cloud get rid of a girl who still has a life to live. Lycan or not, she's still a living person. You could've at least told Cloud where the girl could go if he does indeed decide to let her live in exile."

Rufus looks at Tseng. "...Very well..." He said with a sigh. "I'll think about it." Rufus then looks around at everyone else as Tseng gave a nod. Elena watches as she mumbles about why she's the one who's been receiving Snickers bars lately. All of a sudden, Rufus snaps his fingers. "Well then..." He said. "It seems that we need to lighten up the mood in here. Let's watch an anime!"

"Oo! Oo! Oo!" Reno yelled out as he raises his hand like a school child. "Let's watch something good with action like...Trigun!"

Elena suddenly butts in as she munches on a Snickers bar. "Forget it!" She yelled. "Let's go with something romantic and cute like Chobits!"

"No way!" Reno protested as he gave Elena a funny look. "No one wants to watch some anime about persacoms."

"It's better than watching some plant guy dodging bullets and yelling 'Love and Peace!'"

Rufus sighs as he watches Reno and Elena argue before he then turns his attention toward everybody else. He then gently taps Dark Nation to wake him up from his nap. "Alright, those in favor of action-adventure, raises your hands right now!" He called out. After speaking, He raised his hand while in unison with Tseng, Reno, Rude, and even Dark Nation, who raised his paw. Rufus then looks around to count the hands raised. "Majority rules! Action-adventure it is!" He turns his attention to his faithful pet. "Now which one did you bring?"

As Dark Nation went to retrieve an action-adventure anime, another conference continues on at the abandoned building. Gluttony was drooling out of getting hungry. "Gluttony," Lust said with an annoyed tone in her voice. "I thought I told you to stop drooling."

Gluttony then puts a finger to his mouth. "Sorry, Lust." He responded. Lust sighs and gently rubs the fat homunculus's bald head as she glances over to Envy. "Did Father give any new orders?"

Envy takes a seat on a box as he responds, "He requested for me to go to Hanging Neck Island before the day of the first match starts. He figures that Malice will be there since her new form is part demon if I do recall correctly. The others will have to watch over the girl."

"That wouldn't be a problem." Lust said with a slight grin. "I've heard that she'll be going to Demon World."

"A pretty little thing like her going to Demon World, eh? That ought to be interesting. With her going to Demon World, that should keep her out of the way." Envy said as he then shifts into Rylon. "Though this guy might cause a problem if he screws up. It's because of him that the girl's now a demon."

"As long he doesn't interfere with our plans, we'll let him do as he pleases. Otherwise, we would have to eliminate him."

Envy then shifts back to his normal form as Gluttony grins evilly while glancing over to Lust. "Oh, Lust! Do I get to eat him? Can I?" He asked.

"We shall see, Gluttony." Lust responded with a wicked grin on her face while Envy busts out laughing and Gluttony puts a finger to his mouth.

At the 7th Heaven Bar, Tifa was cleaning the bar counter. She wonders about what Vincent had to say. She hopes that Aerith could stay somewhere safe and close to home. Like Cloud, she too didn't like the fact that Aerith has to leave due to her condition, though she thought of the possibility of Aerith finding her blood family. A small, yet gentle smile crosses her lips as she then thought that maybe something good might come out of Aerith's trip.

As Tifa was getting lost in her thoughts, Aerith walks into the bar and glances over to Tifa. "I'm back." She said softly as she then starts to make her way towards the stairway. "Hey, Aerith." Tifa said as she saw Aerith, whom then stops walking. She looks down to the floor for a while before she then speaks softly, "Tifa..." She slowly lifts her head to face Tifa, having thought about the recent events that had occurred. "Do you think I'm a rampaging monster?" She asked softly.

Tifa's eyes widen slightly from hearing Aerith's question. "Of course not!" She exclaimed as she slowly walks over to Aerith. "You're family, not a monster. We care about you as much as we care about Marlene and Denzel." Tears threaten to spill from Aerith's eyes as she gives Tifa a hug as she tries to blink back her tears. She never felt so lost and confused before in her life. Sure, she had felt that something was missing, but never thought that she could be considered a monster to many people. Now that she couldn't stay with Cloud and Tifa anymore, she is unsure on what she could do. Tifa gives Aerith a gentle smile as she returned the hug. "You know..." Tifa said softly, seeming to have noticed Aerith's attempt on not to cry. "It's okay to cry."

Aerith looks at Tifa for a while in silence, sniffling every now and then. "...I'm sorry..." She said softly as she wipes her eyes with the back of her hand. "I'm such a crybaby...I just can't help myself."

"There's nothing to apologize for." Tifa responded with a gentle smile on her face. "When a person cries, it shows that they do have emotions, happy or sad. It also shows that they do really care no matter how much it hurts in the inside. Though it would only hurt worse if you keep it all bottled inside. If there is something you really need to let out, don't be afraid to talk with someone about it. Remember that."

Aerith gave a slight nod after she listened to what Tifa had to say. She then finally gave a small smile as she speaks, "I will remember."

Tifa smiles back to her. "Maybe something good would come out of you leaving Midgar. Who knows, maybe you might find your lost family." She said.

Aerith blinks slightly in confusion as she tilts her head a bit. Now that she thought about it, it would be an opportunity to try to find her family. She knew that her sister is alive, though as a chimera with a homunculus trapped inside of her. She also wondered who might still be alive in her blood family. She looks at Tifa with a smile. "I suppose you're right." She said, and then she gives Tifa another hug then heads upstairs to her room. Tifa gives a smile then calls out, "Cloud will be back tomorrow to pick you up." With that said, she goes to clean the tables after watching Aerith.


	18. Conference War III

**Yeah, it's been forever since I've done anything to this fanfic. Now I've gotten off my lazy butt and finished revising this chapter. Do note that this is the final chapter to be revised. More chapters to come soon.**

**All characters belong to their respectful owners. Aerith Strife and Rylon belong to me and Miyoko Mustang (only mentioned) belong to my sister.**

* * *

AERITH....THE REINCARNATION OF AERIS?

PART XVIII

CONFERENCE WAR III

Just when Cloud stepped out from the mansion, he spotted two male figures coming his way. The men were both wearing black outfits and have silver hair, though one of them had short hair while the other had slightly longer hair. A grin spread from one the men's lips as he spots Cloud. "Long time no see....Brother." Said the man with the slightly longer hair. The man with the short hair just stood beside the other man while remaining silent. Cloud gives a slight smirk when he heard the man speak. "Indeed it has, Kadaj." He said.

"So what brings you out here?" Kadaj asked with a slight curious tone in his voice. "Did your red caped friend sent you here?"

Cloud just shakes his head slightly then speaks, "No, I came to see Vincent for advice in regards to my daughter's condition."

"Your daughter?" Kadaj said then he walks over to Cloud and nudges him slightly with a smirk on his face. "So you and that one chick had gotten busy, and you both got a child of your own? I must say, don't you two have enough kids living at your place as it is?"

Cloud's face suddenly turned into a deep crimson color when Kadaj spoke then he raises his hands up in defense. "No, it's not like that at all!" He exclaimed. "She's adopted like the others."

Kadaj couldn't help but chuckle at Cloud's reaction to his question. "Is someone in denial?" He asked before noticing Rylon walking over to the doorway of the mansion. His gaze then shifts over to Cloud. "I am sorry, but there is some business I need to take care of."

"I must be going anyways." Cloud said with a nod then he heads over to his motorcycle then soon drives off as Kadaj's expression turned serious as his gaze shifts back over to Rylon after Cloud was out of sight. "You're late, Rylon. That's not like you at all." He said as he and Loz walk inside the mansion while Rylon kept a calm expression on his face.

"Please forgive me....Father." Rylon replied as he folds his arms over his chest. "There were some things I had to take care of." Last thing he wanted was Kadaj learning about the recent events that had occurred. That and about that Hojo had figured out that he is the lycan he was looking for.

"Apparently he might be hiding the fact that he now has a girlfriend." Yazoo interrupted, having overheard the conversation as he walked downstairs to the main room of the mansion. "I think he might be fancying Cloud's adopted daughter."

Kadaj raises an eyebrow when he heard Yazoo speak then his gaze shifts over to Rylon. "Is this true?" He asked, though only receives a silent answer from Rylon, who would then shake his head a bit and walks upstairs past Yazoo. Loz snickers as the trio watched Rylon leave. "He shouldn't cry." He said. "He should've gotten used to this by now."

"You're the last person to talk about not crying," Kadaj said with a smirk. "especially when you couldn't get yourself a girlfriend."

As if he just felt something stab into his heart, Loz's eyes widen then soon gets an upset expression. Apparently Kadaj's words had struck hard to the point where it was almost making Loz cry. "I can't help if the ladies don't like me..."

"Don't cry, Loz. Probably why the ladies don't like you is because of the fact you are such a crybaby."

"I'm not crying! It's suprising you got a girl with those issues you have."

All of a sudden, Kadaj gives a glare at Loz. "I will have you refer to my wife like that! She is the most beautiful creature that hit this planet!"

"Well, if you two are finished..." Yazoo said as he starts to wander into the kitchen. "I'm going to get some ice cream."

"ICE CREAM!?" Both Kadaj and Loz exclaimed in unison before they would quickly head over to the kitchen to fight over who gets ice cream first.

Meanwhile, Tifa was making her way upstairs to check on Aerith, but stops when she heard the sound of a motorcycle coming to the bar. With a soft smile on her face, she walks back downstairs and makes her way to the doorway. Cloud parks his motorcycle near the entrance of the 7th Heaven, then he heads over to the doorway where Tifa was waiting for him. "I'm back, Tifa." He said while giving her a soft smile.

Tifa smiles back at her childhood friend then gives him a hug. "Welcome back." She said. "So what did Vincent had to say?"

His smile faded upon hearing Tifa's question then looks away from her. "......" He was speechless for a moment, unsure on how he was tell her about Vincent's suggestion. Not wanting to keep any secrets from his childhood friend, a sigh passes from his lips then looks at Tifa. "...She should go to Demon World."

Tifa gasped when she heard Cloud's response as she covers her mouth. "Why there?" She asked in shock. "They'll make a monster out of her!"

"I'm not sure why he wanted her to go there of all places." Cloud responded. "Though all I know is that it would help her learn how to use her powers. That and there might a good reason behind going there."

She looks down to the floor for a moment. "It's just...it's just that it's hard to see her go, you know? She's so young. I mean, it doesn't seem right that she has to leave all because she has a curse." A soft smile then crosses her lips. "However, she's counting on us to be strong for her. She'll need the support she can get." As she spoke, Tifa slowly lifts her head up to look at Cloud.

"There's the Tifa I know." He said with a smile before noticing a familiar cat walking into the bar. "Cait Sith...Any news?"

The black and white cat gives a smile as he glances over to Cloud, holding some papers. "Good to see you're feeling a bit better, lad." He said though his smile faded. "Yes, I do bring news. Unfortunately it's not very good news."

"Better than being in the dark. What did you find out?" Cloud asked.

"I'm sorry, lad, but I'm afraid your daughter must leave ASAP." As he spoke, he had a sadden look.

Cloud's eyes widen a bit when he heard Cait Sith. "Why? What's the rush?"

"You remember the incident 3 years ago involving that state alchemist? I found some reports in Rufus's office on that subject." Cait Sith answered then he clears his throat as he looks at the report and starts to read it. "Outside the slums of Sector 5, State alchemist, Miyoko Mustang, was seen lying dead on the ground. A few witnesses have claimed that the culprit was a man with a x-shaped scar on his face."

"We know about that incident, Cait." Cloud interrupted as he folds his arms over his chest. "What does that have to do with Aerith?" He did remember about the incident involving the young alchemist; however, he did seem to recall Aerith becoming greatly ill on the same day. He had to take her to a hospital at a neighboring town that day. His eyes widen a bit as he seem to have realized something. "On second thought, continue."

Cait Sith blinks for a moment then gives a nod. "Sure thing, lad." He said. He turns to another page then clears his throat. "A young girl had arrived on the scene in tears when she saw the body. She had claimed that the state alchemist and her partner would come over to the bar she works at. That and the alchemist was like a sister to her...Blah blah blah." He skims through the report before spotting something that caught his eye. "Here's the important stuff." He said then starts to read the report once more. "Hours had passed since the murder of the Twilight Alchemist. The young girl had taken the body behind the church in the slums, though we're not sure what she was planning to do. There seems to be sparks coming from where she is. Not sure what's going on, but thankfully the Turks had arrived on the scene. They went over to behind the church and soon as the sparks were gone, Turk member Tseng came out with the girl, who seems to be unconscious. He claimed that they didn't know what had happened back there, but all they found was the girl, though no sign of the corpse. It seems to be the work of forbidden alchemy."

As the two were listen to their feline friend read the report, Tifa taps her chin in wonder until Cait was finished. "So could it be that Aerith's the one who attempted human transmutation on Miyoko?" She asked with a slight curious tone in her voice. "Although Miyoko taught her alchemy, Aerith barely ever uses it."

"Aye, maybe so, lass." Cait Sith said. "Though it's best that you two take her away from here as soon as possible. Rufus was complaining about he can't afford having monsters around here. That and I have some suspicions..."

"Suspicions? Suspicions about what?" Cloud asked with a raised eyebrow.

Cait Sith gets a serious look on his face when he heard Cloud. "It's about that new Turk, even Tseng's becoming suspicious. I myself never liked him, but Rufus hired the lad, which was a mistake in my opinion. Ever since he's been here, we've been getting strange reports about people disappearing."

Cloud raises an eyebrow for a moment. "People disappearing? If he's that horrible as you claim him to be, then why did Rufus even hired him?"

"That is a question I don't have the answer to, lad." Responded the cat. "All I'm telling you is keep your eye on him and don't leave your daughter alone with him."

Tifa became silent for a moment as she listened in on the conversation before she then raises her hand slightly. "Though myself and Cloud owe him for saving Aerith's life, and it would be rude of us to repay our debt. He couldn't really be that bad of person, could he?"

"Tifa's right, Cait." Cloud said. "We can't just not return a favor like that."

A displeased look crosses the feline's face, though he gives a nod. "Just be careful around that guy. I'll do what I can." With that, Cait Sith turns around and head out of the bar. Cloud shakes his head with sigh then takes a seat on a stool while Tifa took out two glasses. She then pours some drink into both glasses. "Don't worry, Cloud..." She said, trying to give a soft smile as she handed him a glass. "I know she'll be alright."

"I know," Cloud said with a nod. "but it's hard to see her go."

"Though we have to, even though we don't want to." Tifa said as she wipes down the bar counter while Cloud was going into deep thought about what to do for Aerith as well as about the conversation that was just held a moment ago. Unknown to him and Tifa, Aerith was standing near the balcony, having heard the whole conversation. Not wanting to disturb her adoptive father or Tifa, she would quietly head back to her room.

In the Conference Room of ShinRa HQ, Dark Nation returns with an anime DVD in his mouth. Rufus gives a smile to his faithful pet as he gently takes the DVD then looks at everybody else with excitement. "My faithful pet has chosen an anime! Not just any anime, but an awesome anime!"

"It better be good. He must've gotten some boring anime you want to watch." Elena said with a sigh, though gets a glare from Rufus as he points to her. "OBJECTION! My pet never fails with picking good anime for Anime Night! Now shut up and eat your snickers while I put this anime on or I'm gonna lower your salary." As Rufus puts the DVD into the DVD player, Tseng just takes a sip of his coffee while seeming to be sending text messages while Reno wonders what kind of anime Dark Nation had picked out. _I hate it when he does that whenever we have anime night or whenever we have meetings. _Elena thought to herself as she takes a seat on a chair and eats her Snickers bar.

Just as she was about to ask Tseng about who he was sending text messages to, she hears the opening theme of the anime playing. She then looks at the TV screen, revealing that the anime picked out was none other than Naruto. Her right eye twitches then she glances over at Rufus with a weird look on her face. "Why that anime? It's soooo boring!" She asked, pouting a bit.

"Objection!" Rufus yelled as he points at Elena with a glare. "How dare you say Naruto is boring! That's an awesome show! It teaches us how we can do better as a team and learn cool jutsu. Believe it!"

_I think he's full of himself. There's no way we can learn those things. It's just a dumb anime about some kid wanting to be top dog that's all. _Elena thought to herself, shaking her head a bit.

"I do agree with Elena." Scarlet scoffed. "That anime is stupid and boring."

When Rufus was about to speak to Scarlet, Reno quickly puts his finger at Scarlet. "Objection!" He yelled then smacks Elena and Scarlet upside the head with his rod. "Don't you two be bashing on a real cool anime! You both sure don't have any taste for the good stuff!" The red-haired Turk then shifts his gaze over to Rufus with a grin. "Rufus, can I bring in a cool anime next time?"

Rufus glances over to the red-haired Turk with a curious look on his face. "Which one? It better be a good one."

Reno makes a big grin, his teeth having a sparkle. "The most awesome anime of all time! Hellsing!"

"Oh yes! You better bring that one next time, Reno!"

Later that night, Aerith was laying on her bed, though was having difficulty going to sleep. She thought about the conversation Cloud and Tifa had with Cait Sith earlier. She was feeling scared of the fact that she was going to a place where demons resides. How could she handle herself on her own? She was no fighter, only a flower girl who would help Tifa take care of the 7th Heaven bar. However, she felt that she doesn't have much of a choice. She didn't want to wake up with blood on her hands like before nor want to hear people consider her a monster. She would slowly get up from her bed and head out of her room. She was going to miss Midgar as well as the family who had done their best to take care of her. She also couldn't help but wonder who is going to take care of Boco while she's gone.

Once she got into the main room of the bar, she looks around at the empty room since Cloud and Tifa had already went to bed. She looks toward where the door is, now wondering what the night sky would look like. She knew that Cloud wouldn't allow her to go outside after dark due to her lycan curse, but curiosity is getting the better of her. She would then slowly walk towards the door.


	19. Rylon's True Intentions

**And this chapter was already done before the others were revised. lol. So here you go! Next chapter will be the grand finale!**

**All characters belong to their respectful owners. Aerith Strife and Rylon belong to me.**

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AERITH....THE REINCARNATION OF AERIS?

PART XIX

RYLON'S TRUE INTENTIONS

As Aerith walked towards the door of the bar, she suddenly stops and realizes that it's wrong to go out at night. She wouldn't want to disobey her father, even though she would like to go outside and look up at the night sky. She gives a sigh before walking over to a stool and sits down on it. _I hope this trip to Demon World could help me be free of this curse...I don't anymore people getting killed because of me..._ She thought to herself. She looks around the empty bar, knowing that this is her last night staying there before she leaves in the morning. Deep down, she really didn't want to leave her home or her family behind. All she wanted was to be like any other average girl with a family and a home, being able to go to school without worrying about being a creature that's not even human. With a sadden look on her face, she heads back upstairs to her room, deciding that she should get some sleep and tomorrow would be a long day for her...and the start of her journey.

Later that night, Rylon sits near the edge of the rooftop of the ShinRa mansion, looking up at the night sky. He was thinking about the events that happened so far, especially about his past and Aerith. As he goes deep into his thoughts, Yazoo walks out of the mansion then looks up at the roof. "Rylon! Someone wants to speak to you on the phone!" He called out. Rylon snaps out of his thoughts when he heard Yazoo then looks down at his uncle with a slight annoyed look on his face. "And who might that be?" He asked as he stands up on the roof and jumps down, landing on the ground in a crouch then he looks at Yazoo before he walks into the mansion.

Once inside, Kadaj stands nearby, holding a phone, then he looks at Rylon. "Here. It's for you." Kadaj said as he hands the phone over to Rylon. Rylon holds the phone and answers it as he gave a slight sigh. "Friend or foe?"

A voice of a woman speaks through the phone, "_This is Juliet Douglass. My partner would like to meet with you tonight as soon as possible._"

Rylon became silent as he listened to Juliet then he slowly hangs up the phone and looks to his father before he walks out of the mansion wordlessly. Kadaj and Yazoo watches in silence then after a while, Yazoo walks into the mansion and speaks to Kadaj. "That kid of yours is at it again...Off to speak to those things again or probably go on a date with that girl."

Kadaj shrugs and responds, "Believe me, not even I know what that kid's doing. Though he doesn't seem like he's showing any true affections when that girl's brought up...It's almost as if he's got something else planned for her."

"Just remember, Kadaj. Hojo is still hunting him down, it won't be long til he figures out that he's the lycan that escaped him a long time ago. Should we inform Cloud on this matter? I'm afraid that there's gonna be deception towards him and his daughter."

Kadaj thinks about the manner for a few moments then slightly shakes his head, "We should see what happens...If Cloud could see the deception, he could stop Rylon...if not, then there's a chance his daughter would be in terrible danger."

"He's your son, Kadaj. You should try to stop him."

Kadaj gives a sigh. "I'm afraid there's really nothing I can do."

Meanwhile, Rylon heads over towards the town, but doesn't even look back at the mansion. He didn't notice Lust standing near a well with a slight grin on her face, as if she expecting him. "It took you long enough, Rylon." She said.

Rylon stops when he heard Lust and looks at her as he slowly walks over to her. Once he got close enough, he stops in front of Lust and responds to her, "I take it Envy and the others sent you here, correct?"

"They sent me to check up on you."

Rylon gives a sigh. "It's going to take alot of time for me to get the girl's demon side unleashed...and the problem is that those fools back at ShinRa HQ are making her leave in the morning. With Hojo now finding out that I'm the lycan that's gone missing from his lab, he's not going stop hunting me down let alone myself ever showing my face back at ShinRa HQ."

Lust's slight grin turns to a frown. "I've heard about the news of the girl leaving...and I just received orders from 'Father' that he wishes to meet with her."

"What? Why? She's can no longer be a human sacrifice to you guys and I doubt Cloud is going to let you near the girl."

"And why should you care about the girl, Rylon? You destroyed her world already...there's more to the girl than it seems. And as far as her demon side goes, there are other ways to get the job done since we can't have her as our human sacrifice."

Rylon closes his eyes for a few seconds before making a smirk as he chuckles. "You honestly think I actually have feelings for the girl? I only let her live because she might prove useful to us in the future." A dark look crosses his face. "Yes...I know what should be done with her."

Lust raises an eyebrow after hearing Rylon as she folds her arms over her chest. "And what do you have in mind for the girl?" She asked.

Rylon gives an evil grin as he responds, "I think I found a replacement to get Hojo off my back."

"I see. You're planning on having Hojo take the girl in your place, and how are you going to pull that off?"

"Don't worry, I have a plan."

"What are you planning?"

"You do want the girl to meet with your father, correct? This plan is the perfect opportunity to have that arranged."

The grin never left Rylon's face as he whispers to Lust on what the plan is. Lust grins after hearing what it is and she starts to head towards the mansion slowly with her fingernails extended slightly. Gluttony, who seems to be nearby, follows after Lust with a look of hunger on his face along with an evil grin. Rylon watches with a dark look on his face as screams echoed throughout the town. He didn't feel any sadness or regret on what just happened inside the mansion. He just gives a shrug before turning his back towards the mansion and slowly leaving Nibelheim as he pulls out a tablet from his pocket that has the name "AERITH" engraved on it. Little did he know, Vincent has been watching the whole event unfold from the shadows.

~DREAM~

_"Aerith..." A voice calls out as Aerith finds herself in the Forgotten City. She looks around, trying to find the source of the voice, but she doesn't see anything or anyone. She spots the lake nearby and quickly runs over to it with a smile on her face as she tries to find the source of where she heard the voice. She stops near the lake and looks at her reflection. She tilts her head slightly, but suddenly perks up when she heard the voice call out again, this time it sounded close by. She looks around again, but once again, didn't see anyone. Figuring it was just her imagination, she looks back at her reflection then all of a sudden her reflection changes as something is being viewed. She could see a young fox demon, wearing what appears to be a bandit outfit, but part of her face couldn't be seen. Aerith watches in confusion as the fox girl seems to be attacking someone with tears flowing down her cheeks as if she was feeling pain and sorrow while taking her anger out on the figure. Aerith watches the event in confusion, but she doesn't hear what anyone is saying._

_"What's this?" Aerith asked in her thoughts. She wonders who the fox girl is and why is she seeing all of this. The scene in the lake changes to what appears to be a laboratory and this time, she could hear screams of agony and pain. She flinches when she heard the screams and her body slightly trembles at the sight on seeing figures being used as test subjects. Her heart pounds fast inside her chest as bits of sweat start to form on her face. Why was she seeing these horrible sights? She flinches again from hearing more screams before the scene in the lake changes again. This time, she sees fire in the background and a shadowy figure could be seen with eyes that glowed a blood red color then seems to be howling. Aerith continues to watch in confusion as fear continued to overcome her. The figure in the lake fades into the flames as the scene reverts back to Aerith's reflection. Aerith's heart kept pounding rapidly inside of her chest as she breathes shallowly before letting out a soft sigh of relief, glad that it was all over._

_"Aerith..." The same voice calls out again as Aerith jumps and gulps as she looks around. "Who are you!?" She calls out to the voice, but receives no answer. Figuring that the voice is coming from inside the building nearby, she slowly walks inside it and looks around. "Hello?" She asks as she walks toward a fancy stairway. She wipes away the sweat on her face with her hands before she stopped walking. She looks at her hands then all of a sudden, she could see blood on her hands. Her eyes widen with fear. It was exactly the same image from when she woke up and finding blood on her hands. She backs up slowly until her back is against a wall. She closes her eyes tightly and shakes her head, hoping that it was just her mind playing tricks. Was it someone's idea of a cruel joke? Or is it just a nightmare? Those questions have entered her mind as she slowly opens her eyes and looks around. Nothing is there to be seen. She looks at her hands again, but sees nothing on them. She gulps slightly as she starts to walk back over to the fancy stairway._

_As she walks down the stairway, she finds herself in a field of flowers. Aerith blinks as she saw the flowers then gives a smile as she walks over to the flowers. She kneels in front of them and picks one of the flowers. She brought it close to her nose and sniffs it. The smell was sweet and enough to make Aerith feel more calm and the fear that overcame her has disappeared. She loved flowers alot and they make her happy in some way. She looks at the flower she picked, admiring its beauty then looking up at the star lit sky. Her eyes glittered with the light from the stars then she looks toward the distance. All of a sudden, she could see a light flickering from a distance. "Huh?" She said as she runs toward the direction to where the flickering light was coming from. As she got closer, she could see a house at the spot where the light was flickering from. She makes her way towards the house, but sees a lake in her way. She makes a slight frown before noticing stepping stones then her frown changes to a broad smile. She goes over to the stepping stone and makes her way across the lake as she giggles a bit._

_Once she made it halfway across the lake, she now stands what appears to appears to be an alter. She blinks as she looks around at her surroundings then she realizes that the alter she's standing on is the exact same one where she met Cloud for the first time. All of a sudden, she could hear a voice shout out, "She's dead!"_

_"Da...Daddy?" She asks softly then suddenly an image of Cloud holding a dead body of a female. It was that same woman who appeared in Aerith's mirror. Tears stream down her adoptive father's cheeks as he grits his teeth. "She can no longer laugh, cry, or even get angry!"_

_"Daddy!" She calls out as she runs over to Cloud, but as she got to where he was, he was gone as if he was never there. A sad look shows on her face after seeing that image of her adoptive father feeling so much pain and sorrow. "Daddy..." She murmured to herself then suddenly perks up again when she heard the voice from before calling her name once more. She wonders who's calling her name and why? More questions build up in her mind then she sees the light flickering in the distance. She keeps running then all of a sudden, she falls down a hole and lands on her rear in the middle of a room. She slowly gets up on her feet as she looks around the room. The room had mirrors on the walls as the floor had a giant painting of the Yin Yang symbol in the middle of the room. She examines the symbol and is confused as to why would there be such a symbol in a look like this._

_"Aerith..." The voice calls out, but this time it's louder than before._

_Aerith perks herself as she heard the voice again. "Who's there?" She asks as she looks around then directs her attention to the Yin yang symbol. She was standing in the center of the symbol, but has her left foot on the black area while her right foot was on the white area. Seeming that she's not going to get answer from the voice, she looks at one of the mirror at her right. She could see a reflection of herself then as she looks at one of the mirrors on her left side, she could see an image of a werewolf with blood red eyes instead of her reflection. Her eyes widen a bit as she saw the image, then suddenly jumps when she heard her name get called again by the same voice. She turns around to look behind her, but sees a mirror, showing a shadowy figure which appears to be in the shape of a female fox demon. She gulps a bit as she turns back around and faces a mirror in front of her. This mirror shows Aeris herself with a smile on her face. Aerith tilts her head in confusion as she slowly walks over towards the mirror. "...Aeris?"_

_"Aerith...daughter of Cloud Strife." Aeris responds. "Your journey will be full of challenges and difficult decisions that have to be made." Aerith stops in front of the mirror and speaks. "I don't understand, Aeris...what were those images that I've seen?"_

_Aeris smiles as she answers, "You will understand in due time. Just be prepared and don't forget that your father still loves you, even though you'll be separated from him."_

_"I'll miss him though." Aerith spoke with a sadden tone in her voice, but then gives a slight smile. "We'll always be a family no matter how far away I am."_

_"And along your journey, you'll make new friends and possibly enemies along the way...Maybe make an impact on someone's life."_

_"Maybe...Aeris...Will I ever find my parents? Since now I know that Miyoko's my sister...I want to find my parents or whoever's left in my real family."_

_"Who knows...It all depends on the path you choose. I cannot give you all the answers. The answers will come to you along the way."_

_Aerith gives a nod as she backs up to the spot in the center of the Yin yang symbol then she closes her eyes. On the white spot on the black area of the symbol begins to slightly glow crimson as the black spot on the white area begin to slightly glow a greenish color. Aeris watches with a smile then speaks, "You must remember that there's balance in all things. There will be times you will make an enemy out of a friend as you'll make a friend out of an enemy, depending on your actions." As Aeris spoke, green energy and crimson energy start to swirl around Aerith. Aerith could feel some form of comfort as she places her hand on her chest, but suddenly she falls to her knees as the energies disappear. "I'm scared....I'm scared to be alone..." She murmurs softly as she was finally on her hands and knees. She suddenly feels a sharp pain in her heart as if someone just stabbed her as she sees the same images from before flashing before her eyes until it stops with herself covered with blood. Aerith's eyes widen and screams, "NOOOOOOOOOOO!"_

~THE REAL WORLD~

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Aerith screamed as she quickly sits up on her bed, breathing fast as her heart pounds inside her chest. She looks around her room as she heard the sound of footsteps running up the stairs. Cloud stands near the doorway of Aerith's room. "Aerith. You okay?" He asks as he walks over to her. Aerith looks at her adoptive father as tears swell up in her eyes and hugs him tightly then she starts to cry softly. Cloud holds his adopted daughter close and gently strokes her hair, he mostly upset that she has to leave in the morning. He knew this is her last night here so he must try to give her much comfort as possible.


	20. What's Gone Never Forgotten

**Hey, it's been a long time! I'm really sorry for not updating this story. ^.^; Writer's block can be very evil at times. I have thought of making this chapter my final one for this story, but I've decided to make more chapters to tie up some loose ends.  
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**As always, I do not own Final Fantasy 7, Yu Yu Hakusho, or anything else that is not mine.**

**Aerith & Rylon belong to me. ;3**

**And I hope you all enjoy this chapter. ^_^  
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AERITH...THE REINCARNATION OF AERIS?

PART XX

WHAT'S GONE NEVER FORGOTTEN

Watching the sunrise with a soft sigh passing through his lips, Cloud stood outside the 7th Heaven bar. He barely had any sleep mostly due to staying up to give Aerith some comfort. _The day has finally arrived. _He thought to himself. The mako energy within his blue eyes gave off its glow as the eyes themselves seem to zone out. His only thoughts are focused on Aerith's safety as well as her very well-being, deciding that maybe he should go with her to make sure she reaches her destination safely rather than having Rylon escort her. After hearing about what Cait Sith had said about people disappearing, the last thing he wanted is for Aerith to be among the missing people. If this man did indeed have a connection to those missing people, then there would be trouble.

A soft sigh had passed through Tifa's lips as she watched Cloud through a window. She didn't know what to say to him, but she knew that he has to be strong for Aerith. She also felt that they should heed Cait Sith's warning and have Cloud go with Aerith rather then letting Rylon escort her. For now, she must wake Aerith up and have her get ready. She would make her way upstairs to Aerith's room and knocks on the door. "Aerith?" She asked. "Are you awake?"

"Yes." Aerith's voice answered softly before Tifa opened to door to see that Aerith was already dressed and ready. Aerith's eyes had a sadden look to them as she looks around her room, having this thought that she might never see it again. Tifa frowned at the look in the young girl's eyes before going over to her. "Remember, Aerith..." She said softly, placing her hand on Aerith's shoulder. "No matter where you go...No matter what you are, you're always welcomed here. This place will always be your home. Think of it as just saying good-bye."

Aerith hugs Tifa tightly, blinking back tears. "I'm going to miss this place alot. You and Daddy have been so good to me." She said in a soft tone. "I really want to stay here and help you take care of the 7th Heaven as well as going with Daddy places to help him with his deliveries. If only I was more human than monster..." This made her feel like she was being a burden to both Cloud and Tifa. All she wanted to be like any other teenaged girl...living a normal life. However, with her current condition, it made her life even more difficult.

"Don't say that!" Tifa exclaimed, causing Aerith to jump a bit. "You are not a monster. You're every bit as human as every one of us. You may have a curse as well as having demon blood in your veins, but you're still human. No matter what you are now, what counts more is who you are within." As she spoke, Aerith lowered her head a bit. Tifa then gives her a soft smile. "Come on, let's get you something to eat. No need for you to go any long trips on an empty stomach." Getting only a nod in response from Aerith, Tifa would then walk out of the room and make her way downstairs.

Aerith gazed over to the mirror for a moment, though only to see her own reflection rather than seeing Aeris. _Please don't let me do this alone. _She thought to herself. She figured that she wasn't going to get any responses from Aeris unless if she personally showed herself. As she left the room, a ghostly figure of Aeris would appear in the mirror once again. "Be strong, Aerith." She said in a soft tone. "I hope your journey will be a safe one, and maybe someday you might find the answers you're looking for." With that, the ghostly figure would disappear.

After a while, Aerith stepped outside the 7th Heaven after having breakfast only to find Cloud talking with a familiar red-haired young man. "Shuichi?" She said in a confused tone as she slowly walks over to the two. "What are you doing here?" She asked. The only time she saw the red-haired young man was at the school she attended at. It was unusual for her to see him here in Midgar.

Cloud's mako-infused eyes gazed over to Aerith when he heard her question to Kurama. "This young man here has offered to escort you to your destination." He responded.

The red-haired young man gave a nod to Cloud then glanced over to Aerith. "Indeed. A man, by the name of Reeve, had informed me of your situation and sent me here to assist you in your trip. That is, of course..." He would glance back over to Cloud. "If you don't have any objections. Though you seem to be very weary."

Cloud stood with his arms folded over his chest, giving himself a moment to think. Kurama was right. He did feel weary due to having stayed up all night, though he was feeling uneasy to let Aerith go alone with this young man. If Reeve had sent him, then it should be okay. He knew that it would seem unlike Reeve to send someone who intended to harm Aerith. "Very well." He said, nodding. "You may escort Aerith. Just be sure that she stays safe."

"No harm will come to her I can assure you." Kurama responded. "I'm a friend of hers from the school she had currently attended." He then looked over to Aerith. "Shall we be on our way?"

Despite being confused about the whole thing, Aerith gives a slight nod to Kurama. "I...I'm ready." She said just before she glanced over to Cloud. She ran over and hugs him tightly, as if it was like she wasn't going to see him again. "Goodbye...Daddy..." She said in barely a whisper. Tears have threaten to spill, but she had blinked them back.

At a loss for words, Cloud only hugged Aerith back. He didn't want for her to go, but he felt that maybe this was the right thing to do. "Aerith..." He said in a soft tone. "I do hope that someday that you do find your family."

"Even if I do find them, you'll still be my dad too." She said before she let go of her adoptive father and took a few steps back. "Someday, I'll be free from this curse, and be human again." With that she turned around slowly and began to make her leave with Kurama following close by. But then, she stopped and looked over her shoulder at Cloud. "Thank you..." She said, making a small smile on her face. "Thank you for everything you've done for me these past 10 years. I won't ever forget the kindness you and Tifa treated me with, despite my curse." Tears finally began to roll down her cheeks. "Take good care of Boco for me." She would wipe her tears away as she looked back forward slowly and continued to make her leave.

"..." Cloud only watched until they were out of his sight. "Goodbye...Aerith." He murmured softly before he headed inside the 7th Heaven. He wanted to go with her and make sure she made it to her destination safely, but having pulled an all-nighter was having its toll on him.

Inside the bar, Tifa watched Cloud come inside. She would walk over to him and places her hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Cloud. All we can do is be strong for her sake." She said reassuringly. "You should get some rest." She only got a nod as a response from her childhood friend, whom decided to go upstairs to get some sleep. A soft sigh passed through Tifa's lips as she watched. Not only was she concerned for Aerith's well-being, but for Cloud's as well. She knew it was hard for him, having lost a couple of good friends who were dear to him and now having to let go of the girl he had taken in as his daughter. "Someday..." As she spoke, she looked through a window. "Someday, we'll see her again."

Meanwhile, in a house in another sector of Midgar, Reno slept soundly on his bed while snoring. The sound of his cellphone soon went off, playing 'Telephone' as the ringtone. Groaning, Reno reaches for his cellphone and answers it. "It better be good waking me up this early in the morning..." He said groggily. All of a sudden, the expression on his face turned serious while he was listening to what was being told to him. He would get up from his bed. "Right on it." He said before hanging up his cellphone. He would look through a window before making a slight smirk on his face. "Wonder if we should tell him?"


End file.
